Life as a Fox
by icefireSpirit Wolf
Summary: With his last breath he made a deal, now he has paid the price-Life in a body not of his own. How shall he live? How shall his dreams breath life? What will he be remembered for? Follow Naruto on a journey that will change the lands of Konoha forever. Reviews are welcomed greatly.
1. The Deal

**Life as A Fox**

**Chapter 1*2013 Revision***

**NSW- The Forsaken Author.**

* * *

"_Destiny: sometimes you think you have it figured out, and other times you've got it completely wrong, and other times, it turns out right….but not quite in the way you expected, that evidently, was how my destiny ended up being._"

* * *

Naruto ran as fast as his feet would take him. Towards the sounds of bombs exploding, the cries of Ninja in pain - or worse, the cries of them dying. 'A_ll for the sake of me, they are dying and getting hurt because of me'_ He thought bitterly to himself. He landed stiffly on the ground, pausing from the long run he had just had. He wasn't tired, his stamina assured that. But he scanned all that lay before him. Madara had finally started the long-awaited battle, he and the Akatsuki, the ones both living and the ones brought back-to-life simply for this moment, versus what arms they could muster between the five ninja nations.

Naruto shook his head. He should have stayed on the secluded island with Killer-bee and Yamato and the others, but he, being the Uzumaki he was, thought if it was_ his_freedom ninja where fighting and dying for, shouldn't he at least be there to fight with them? Instead of sitting and hiding on an island who knows where, learning about his past?

Sure he had gotten the Nine-tails under control, but what good would that do if it meant others died while he simply sat and meditated? He shoved off with a push of chakra. He had some unfinished business to take care of. Business that went by the name of Uchiha Sasuke.

Naruto lept onto a branch of one of the few remaining trees. Scanning once more. Over a third of the army was being held under a strong genjutsu created by Uchiha Itachi. Next was a team-up of power between Daidara throwing his bombs endlessly, and Sasori with his hundreds of Puppets, already he could tell that several squads of ninja were down due to the poison. He studied the medic ninja, as they worked endlessly trying to make enough anti-venom to go around.

Naruto gritted his teeth. War was terrible, and he hated it with every last fiber of his being, but he had to press on. Ignoring the battle and slipping behind the enemy lines, he traveled some ways until he finally found the one he was looking for: the ebony haired teenager stood overlooking the battle from an outcrop of rocks.

* * *

Naruto slowed and walked forward slowly, black eyes piercing him as he did. He stopped and stood defiantly, looking back up into those dark eyes. Sasuke stood urbane upon his mock throne of rock. He spoke casually, his eyes rolling across Naruto as his hand rested on the hilt of his sword. "So ready to die hn, Naruto?" Sasuke said, sneering at him.

Naruto shook his head it was unreal, what Sasuke had become, how...far he was lost. But Naruto smirked "I have learned a lot more since the last time we met Sasuke " he said calmly. Sasuke stood complacent, he blinked which he did in a pompous manner as well, if that was even possible. Naruto shook his head, he was so arrogant it was unnatural. But he spoke, somewhere inside that young man, was the Sasuke he knew.

"I know what it's like for you, I really do, but that doesn't mean you have to be this way." Naruto said hoping his words appealed to something inside Sasuke. Naruto continued, his three years of longing stretched into his next words. "Come back to Konoha, please...just come back." Sasuke waited then he jumped down with a grunt, to measure Naruto with a steely glance. "What does that have to do with anything?"

Naruto leveled him with his own glance as well, frustrated. "It means that neither of us have to kill the other! Because you don't _have_ to be like this." Anger flashed in Sasuke's eyes "Be like what?" he spat back. "Guilty" Naruto simply stated, taking Sasuke aback."What?" he asked, Naruto shifted his foot in the dirt. "You know what I said...guilty…you feel guilty." Sasuke studied him with a slight crease to his forehead, as if not understanding '_well finally he is stooped by something' _Naruto thought to himself.

"After you heard the truth you wish you could take it all back, you never wanted to kill Itachi you only did it because that's what everyone expected you to do." He said expanding on his former statement. Sasuke stared at Naruto, he finally spoke up his voice edged, "How could you possibly-" Naruto put up a hand silencing him, thats right he silenced Sasuke. "Don't even start Sasuke, there are other people on this earth who have suffered far worse than you." Naruto said with a voice so quiet Sasuke had to strain to hear it, but with words so powerful they sent a chill down his spine.

* * *

Sasuke said nothing, he thought to himself: '_Naruto is right in his random way, life as a Jinjuriki had to have been hard, to be considered a demon all your life.' _Sasuke had to admit, it would take a strong man and a strong will to face up to that kind of pressure day in and day out. '_Which is also probably why he so stubborn and annoying.'_ He added dryly to himself.

There was a silence for a moment as each stared at the other, the sounds of the distant battle still rang on but neither seemed to notice. Sasuke finally sighed. "Why are you doing this Naruto?" Naruto shook his head. "You still don't get it?, because for the thousandth time, Sasuke, you're my friend, and I made a promise to Sakura. You know me - I never go back on my word".

Sasuke chuckled, he had always thought, long after he killed Itachi, about what he was going to do. True, he felt guilty about killing Itachi, but if there was one thing he knew he had to do still, even today, it would be to get revenge on _that_ village. Konoha, the place he once called home. The thing that had all but destroyed the Uchiha clan. That accursed village forced his brother to carry the burden of killing his clan, then Itachi had forced his own brother, forced _him_ to kill his own brother, his last relation, did no one understand that?Did no one see the wrongness in that?

Now Naruto was all but forcing him to return to that Kami-forsaken village in the name of _friendship_?

There was no way, unless, he paused as the devilish wheels in his head kept turning. Something revealed itself, something dark and deadly as killing ones own brother as he figured out a way to get all this to work. True, he was bored with the Akatsuki and wouldn't mind leaving, but if he went back to the village Naruto would be there; and let's face it: he only had so much of his vision left. Although he didn't want to admit it, Naruto was stronger than him, however he had one thing he could do that Naruto couldn't..._He_ could _kill_ the other.

Naruto couldn't kill him, he was too pure, too innocent, something Sasuke envied. But despite that he couldn't help smiling at the thought of what Naruto's face would look like, how would it contort when he knew Sasuke had betrayed him. Yet, under all this, Sasuke still felt some link to Naruto, they were rivals and friends, there was something about their destinies that were bound to each other, he held that respect to Naruto even to this moment but like all bonds before, he would sever them...in time.

Suddenly the lights went on as he thought even harder. Danzo was the current Hokage, if he _did_ return, Danzo would greedily accept him into his clutches the old man was blinded and a fool. But he did have the same motive as Sasuke, he and Danzo could plot together for a bit then, but he would just kill Danzo when he outran his usefulness...but...one thing kept getting in the way: Naruto.

_If_ he returned with Naruto, _Naruto_ would get in the way unless... he killed him now? '_Wait! if I did kill Naruto and blamed it on Madara,… this would actually work, everyone would be so upset and confused they would have to believe him! No one else is here, no one would know the truth.' _He thought to himself. Already he had thought up a story to win over the hearts and minds of the ones he would call his 'comrades.' Sasuke smirked then said "So you're saying...all I have to do is say, 'I'll return' then - that's it, everything forgiven?" He almost laughed at the thought of how simple everything was falling together, he was like a wolf standing before a young gullible lamb.

The innocent lamb stepped forward, walking even closer to his hungry jaws. "Yes, all you have to do is take my hand." Naruto said. Sasuke snorted inwardly. '_Naruto you are so naïve, look: you even put your guard down.' _Sasuke stepped forward giving a sincere smirk, nothing too obvious to give away his true intentions.

Wordlessly he thought of the childhood story his mother used to read to him, a single phrase obtruded in his mind. 'Oh grandmother, what large teeth you have?' "All the better to eat you with" he mumbled silently with his lips, "huh?" Naruto grunted. "Nothing" he answered then clasped Naruto's hand, and quickly drew his blade.

* * *

Naruto thought it was almost a dream come true as Sasuke stepped forward to take his hand in peace. But randomly before they shook Sasuke said something strange that put him off guard. "All the better to eat you with." It was so random, Naruto was taken aback, that was a childhood story, it was about a wolf who tricked a- he felt a tensing of Sasuke's body. Before he could register what was going on he saw a flash of steel, then a pain in the middle of his chest. He stared, still not comprehending what had happened. Not until he looked down to see the hilt of Sasuke's katana sticking out of his chest.

Naruto looked back up, he couldn't believe it, how could he have been so _stupid_? Did he really think Sasuke would see the error of his ways that quickly? Of _course_ it was all just a ploy to kill him! All of it was from the very beginning. Shame welled through Naruto, how did he let Sasuke win so easily? How did he let himself get devoured by the wolf?

But Naruto couldn't finish that particular thought, as he felt his knees give out. 'W_ait a second, what the hell is going on? Oi! Fox, what the hell is wrong with you? Do your job!_' **"What? Do you think I can heal this kind of damage?"** Naruto felt a chill go down his spine '_wait…can't you?_' he asked the fox, suddenly afraid. **"Sorry kit, even I have my limits, but at least you will be able to see your dear mom and dad soon."**

* * *

Sasuke watched him with a look of amusement. Naruto was kneeling on the ground before him as he retreated from his conversation with the fox. Already he felt a cold seeping through him. Numbing his body and making him feel sluggish. His vision started to go foggy, he blinked his eyes trying to clear them, but then he heard Sasuke speak. "You know Naruto, I actually do miss Konoha." He said languidly stepping down next to him.

"I might return and enjoy it a little bit before I destroy it." he said casually. He could see the anger sparking in Naruto's dying eyes. '_How pitiful, looks like the fox can't, or won't help him'_ he thought to himself, not believing the luck he was having. He continued to taunt the blonde. "It will be easy... I'll tell them of how you came to win me over," he said placing a hand on Naruto's shuddering shoulders.

Sasuke smirked then gripped the shoulder tighter, he continued. "How I finally saw the light to my path" he said, holding back laughter. "Then" he said sounding as if he was telling a story. "We faced Madara together" but he turned his head away, bowing it as if sorry for the next thing he said. "But alas, then you got caught in a genjutsu... like you always do, you were never good at that were you?" he added asking Naruto.

Naruto made a gruttel sound as blood began to drip down his chin. Sasuke wiped it away as he spoke as if Naruto were a child with food on his face. "And before I could get to you, he had stabbed you…" he gave a fake sob grabbing Naruto's face holding it as he stared into this angry, pleading, dying eyes. "I tried saving you" he began softly leaning in. "But sadly, I am not a medic ninja." He said finally.

He sighed then looked to Naruto, he gave him a few pats on the shoulders. "Don't worry." He said pointing a finger into Naruto's chest. "I'll tell them how your only regret was not being able to become Hokage." Then he stood up, wiping his hands. "Oh" he said remembering something randomly, "I almost forgot. You also said that they should welcome me back to the village and trust me again." Sasuke said finally, giving off a cold cruel smile, one that revealed how far gone his sanity truly was.

Naruto felt a cold hatred run through him, even as he felt his life energy drain from him. He finally realized that he could not let this happen, he had to somehow stop this! But… he was dying he knew that, Kyuubi's power was sealed away so he couldn't heal, he had to stop Sasuke somehow, he needed to prove Sasuke wrong, that he was false, a betrayer, just like he always was, he was never going to change.

Although he finally saw Sasuke for what he was, he had to have him return to the village - it was part of his promise, and no matter what, he never went back on his word. Maybe he could summon a toad and relay the message? No, it wouldn't work - the bastard was going to stand there and watch him die. He was enjoying this too much. He had to do something soon though; he could feel already the unnatural pull of death near him. Naruto had no option he had to do something, anything, with the Kyuubi, anything that would grant him more time at least, or even stop this bloody war.

* * *

He closed his eyes and fell back on the earth, surrendering himself one last time to the blackness of his inner self, he felt the real world fall away as he slipped into his inner realm where the Kyuubi was housed. He opened up the orb in which the Kyuubi was contained, the fox appeared. It growled and snapped at him, it's fangs bared and it's tails lashing. Naruto was not affected, he spoke, his voice commanding attention. "Listen up you old Fox!" The fox paused, stunned for having a mortal speak such a way at him. "I am dying right now-" **"Well no shit, Sherlock"**the Kyuubi interjected trying to remain the boss, as always.

Naruto growled at him. He a tiny human, _growled_ at the Kyuubi-no-Kitsune. That got the foxes attention. "So I want to make this quick, if you wish not to die with me I would listen up." The fox perked his ears up, but remained silent, "I will offer you freedom, in return to some simple people needing to be killed" now the fox -who has been sealed inside humans for three generations liked the idea of freedom, and the feeling of killing again made him quite susceptible to listening to Naruto even more.

Naruto continued, "when I die…" the blonde started to say. He paused but shook his head then gave a heavy sigh, gathering courage. "When I die" he said stronger. "I want you to kill the Akatsuki, they have been trying to get you for the longest time and they have your brethren sealed away as well. Now that's all I wish, just get rid of the Akatsuki. Do you think you can handle that?" he said challenging the Kyuubi.

Karuma stared down at the child **_"no, not child, he has grown, he…even when facing death, he still thinks about others…about me, he cares about me…why? What did I ever do him? I caused him harm, and made a burden on him, and yet, he wishes to free me…and my siblings….this mortal…has more guts, then I" _**The fox thought of this sadly, a new feeling blossomed in the fox, he had a revelation.

He lifted his head then looked at the boy, he smiled he would accomplish this task. He would not let this human…who had changed him, who had cared for him like _that _man, of long ago, Karuma could see the shadow of that man, somewhere in that boys face…pardon him, this young man's face.

Karuma nodded, he had long awaited the day where he could run free and escape the human hell hole. He was even overjoyed, he believed even, that one of his tails was wagging, he stopped it before the mortal noticed. He was itching to get out he wanted to get back at the Uchiha Madara, the man who had used him like an average weak summoning. A demon only has to fall for a trick once to build up immunity to it. So thus the Sharingan and any other forms of Sharingan would be no effect to him. The fox smiled, **"A fox, always has something hidden up his sleeve" **he said quietly to himself, "what?" Naruto said up at him.

Karuma waved it from mind, he looked at Naruto and said "**I agree, Uzumaki Naruto, freedom in exchange for certain mortals death's, understood, like you, a demon can never go back on its word, once it has created a pact…if one breaks it, he loses his soul." **He stated simply, it was the truth, the brutal, drak ugly truth, how they could lose something so precious for breaking a small thing, why did there goddess make them like so?

* * *

The demon and Human studied each other for a bit, both of them finally realizing that the one who stood before him was not as bad as everyone thought it out to be**.** Naruto then sighed and the chains, binding the Kyuubi fell. The great fox nodded his head to Naruto, he was one of the two humans to ever gain control over him, and no matter what you are you have to honor that being, and give him or her the up most respect.

The Kyuubi left Naruto, Naruto being the Uzumaki he was, was like his mother, he didn't die right away, instead he got to watch the satisfying expression of Sasuke's face as the Kyuubi appeared. The penchant Uchiha backed away quickly, Naruto could see fear on the noble features of his rival. Something that at least gave him some amusement. Despite the situation.

Already he felt his life source drop to very low levels, he fought for breath as he turned his head to see Kyuubi, with a triumphant roar. Lashed at Sasori of the red sand first, then another tail at Itachi effectively breaking the genjutsu that held a part of the army. The ones captured, fell to the ground, sighing in relief as they were saved from their private tortures. Naruto had to admit that Itachi was powerful to hold so many, no wonder he was a known master of genjutsu.

Naruto spoke, finding it hard to find his voice, which was frightening for him, his voice always came so freely, most of the time he was told to shut-up or be quiet. "What….is….the…matter…..S-sasuke?, Afraid of….the power….I…used to….control? You ….better watch yourself,...Sasuke…..I will be watching….." He probably wouldn't but, he wanted to at least make an impression of the Uchiha, gods knows he needed to be intimidated by something. Sasuke turned his head to him; Naruto dug his eyes into the others, wanting the Uchiha to never forget, he did this until his vision all but faded to black.

* * *

Naruto wandered in a realm of complete and utter blackness for some time. Abysimal and depressing, it carried out for eon's it seemed. Before he could commence his freaking out, a light appeared. With a sigh he went towards it. Unfathomably drawn to the warmth that radiated from it. But out of nowhere a man appeared. Dressed in formal robes and holding a scroll in his hand. He floated radiating in complete white-no, not white, even brighter then that.

He floated in mid-air as he turned his pupiless eyes upon Naruto. Which unnerved him to some degree, "Uzumaki Naruto" said the man, the words resounded and hung in the air. As they came from lips that did not even move. "You are forbidden to enter eternal peace" Naruto could not manage a single syllable. "You made a pact with a demon, an offense taken seriously to the heavenly beings, demons are our sworn enemy, the cast off kin of us, they disrupt or ways, they change the way we have for told things, making the future...unclear."

Naruto said nothing once more, not because he had nothing to say, but because he couldn't, it was like they had taken his voice away from him. "As said in the holy script one who makes a deal with demons." He said unrolling the scroll,"is cursed to wander the earth unseen and unheard to mortals." With that being said, Naruto suddenly found himself sitting on the ground, in front of his own body.

* * *

Sakura, was in the medic tents working profusely trying to save lives and limbs. She heard another explosion go off. '_Two more dead, 6 more wounded and 3 more critical people going to be coming in'_. Sakura thought to herself looking up from the man she was done with.

Moving on to the next person, _'there is nothing we can do, except relieve his pain' _she said looking at the wound, almost half his torso was ripped away, it was a wonder he was still alive. She was sad to let one with such a strong will die, but she had to, there was no way to fix him. If they did it would take every last medic nins strength, something they couldn't afford.

A great roar broke through the area, freezing everyone in their tracks, as a pressure pushed around them, a pressure of a great power source. Familiar to her, but still so powerful she shook. It was not like a roar of a man in pain, this was different, it was insurmountably greater. It shook the ground and scattered birds in the distance. A chill went down her spine because she knew that a roar and chakra signature like _that,_ could only belong to one thing.

And that one thing, was supposed to be far, far away, safe, from all harm. Neatly sealed away in a person. A person with sunlight blonde hair, and azure blue eyes, who never ever gave up, so it was impossible, impossible that, _he _was dead, but if that _thing_ that roared was out…fighting, killing, and to put it mildly saving their asses, then the person it was once contained in…had to be...no…was dead.

Realization hit her like a fist from Tsunade to the gut, and she was not the only one to put two and two together. She looked up into the eyes of her nearest squad member; she looked back in fearful sad eyes.

All of a sudden Sakura found herself running out abandoning her post and all of the wounded in the tent to go outside. To confirm the great beast named the Nine tails, flex one of those said tails to destroy one of the Akatsuki like a flea. It gave a howl and sent more tails lashing out with such power.

Swatting away Akatsuki like flies on a hot day, she saw one cloaked figure rise up...she saw the mask, no doubt it was Madara trying to control the beast, in ways she didn't know how…how could someone even think about controlling a force of nature?

But Madara must not have listened to that lesson because, he suddenly found himself crushed into the ground by one of that large hand like paws. Wondering why the sharingan was not working, a chuckle broke form the beast and it roared as it finally had its own revenge of crushing the self-proclaimed immortal being.

A few more flicks of its tails, and the Akatsuki was destroyed, then with one last look and final victorious howl it disappeared in a poof of smoke as it teleported itself away. A silence, descended upon the Ninja, some had not yet registered, still holding weapons they waiting for the next wave of eneimies…but none came.

* * *

Ninja looked to each other. For a few moments no one could comprehend what had happened. Then the silence broke and in jubilation all of them, no matter which nation they were from reached out to each other. Hugging, clapping, crying, not even knowing each others names they gripped one another. They did this just because they were happy. Happy they had survived, happy they had lived.

A great cheer rose up from all of them. But then those of the Fire Nation died down, realization hit them as well. One man of the sand, the Kazekage hadn't bothered to cheer with his men. Gaara had already made his way to Sakura, who sat kneeling on the ground, strength vanished from her, she cried. A look of silent grief etched upon his features. "Sakura, I-" she shook her head, "It can't be H-he was sent away, f-for safety, it might be a trick or something"

But even she could not lie to herself, tears already flooded from her eyes. Gaara merely held her as she cried. She cried though, not because of grief, but also in a small way happiness, when she saw all the men, men of different nations, joining together and laughing, crying, cheering, seeing them come together in peace, she knew Naruto's dream had come true, his dream of peace was met. Yet sadness hit her harder when she realized, that he would never get to see it.

Sakura broke from him "we have to find him!" she screamed her voice hoarse. She ran not knowing where to look but she would find him, she had to! Gaara chased after her. They passed by Kiba and Shikamaru who were coming in from the battle, as they helped drag in the wounded. Watched them, they to tried to stop Sakura, but to no avail you just couldn't…and you didn't want to .

* * *

Naruto sat unnervingly staring into his own dead eyes. He didn't remember bleeding from the mouth when he died but I guess it was so because blood covered the bottom half of his face and still dripped out. Then he did remember randomly, Sasuke had wiped something from his face, it had to have been blood.

His entire front of his jacket was drenched in the crimson substance, dyeing the fabric a muddy brown. 'Dammit, that was my favorite jacket' he thought to himself. Then looked to his face, even an idiot could tell, after one look of his face, knew he died painfully.

Although he couldn't remember grimacing when had he done that? Sasuke suddenly rose, 'oh awake from our comatose emo bastard state are we?' Naruto thought with disgust. Sasuke leaned forward and gripped his sword hilt, he braced a foot on Naruto's cadaver and pulled it out with a grunt. It took some effort, but finally with a ripping sound it came free, it must have been lodged in his spine or something. Calmly he sat back down and brought out his kit that he used to clean his precious blade he then absently began to purge the blade from the blood.

Then all of a sudden he heaved it into the ground. Naruto jumped in surprise at the sudden movement, plus it had fell through his foot. "Why god dammit! Why!" He screamed to the heavens. Naruto was unnerved by the sound of pain in his voice, it almost made his heart go out to him, almost. Sasuke continued. "Why! Why did my clan have to be destroyed?... Look what I have done to avenge it! Destroy my brother, now my best friend…" tears fell from him, "Naruto I swear, if I had grown up normally without the clan massacre, we probably would be best friends, and we would have grown old together sharing stories,… but I can't...I couldn't..."

He said sobbing, his voice cracking "I won't… let that...village get away with what they did to my clan,...what they did to Nii-chan, the pain they caused him and me…" he cried silently for a bit, soft sobs racking his body. He continued "You were in my way, …I had to do it, right?" He directed the question to dead Naruto, as though he was asking Naruto's corpse if it was perfectly okay to kill him.

Naruto had to admit, he felt sorry for him, wait! He felt sorry for the man who killed him? He shook his head what was wrong with him! "What the hell!" Naruto exclaimed. "Do you really think the only way at getting revenge is killing everything?" he said getting up yelling at Sasuke, "Who said you had to get revenge in the first place anyways? Why did you have to go and be a massive idiot all over the place!... you moron!" Naruto cursed himself and Sasuke.

He sat back down, crossing his arms over his chest "this sucks…he can't even hear me…fuck, this sucks majorly, what the hell am I going to do?" Naruto lamented in his pain by himself. Sasuke had grown silent and comatose once more and no amount of jeering form Naruto seemed to wake him. (Naruto had tried poking him, but found out that his hand as well would fall through Sasuke's flesh. Naruto had screamed then in fright and backed away at that), it was too creepy, he really was a ghost.

He hyperventilated for a bit until he calmed down and watched as a certain pinkette ran up to his body. She collapsed and sobbed into his bloody chest, not caring that his blood was getting into her precious hair. Shikamaru, Kiba and Gaara where behind her, they all looked down at his body then to Sasuke, they converged on him, but when Shikamaru lifted him to punch him, he saw the tears, and hesitated, he glanced to Kiba then to Gaara, they shrugged not knowing what ot think or do.

Shikamaru instead knocked Sasuke unconscious then tied his hands behind his back. Not sure of what else to do, but then they also turned to his body. All three of them looked down at Naruto as Sakura, tried to clean up some blood coming from his face. Wiping it clean of the offending substance.

Shikamaru looked away "dammit Naruto, this wasn't how it was going to be, I thought you said you were going to be Hokage? How are you going to be able to do that when you're dead?" Shikamaru said letting a few tears fall. "T-this is so t-troublesome" he gasped out as he wiped tears that came out of his eyes. This was the second time he had lost someone important to him, first Asuma and now Naruto, what cursed world was he going to have to live in from now on?

Gaara suddenly fell to his knees, crying as well. "Naruto…." He said "you and me were one of a kind,… you were the only other person I knew to be like me, you saved my life more times than I can count, you taught me to believe and to feel love again,…we were going to be Kages together….you said to me once it was us against the world,….now I guess it's only me…" Gaara bowed his head as tears slipped from his pale blue orbs. Kiba placed a hand on his shoulder giving some comfort.

* * *

They stayed there, numbly absorbing the shock for a few moments of silence before, Kakashi, who's arm was bandaged with blood soaked wrappings sank to his knees as well. Gai appeared next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. Ten-Ten and Neji ran up next, both of them covered in scratches and Neji limping slightly. "Lee is in the medic tents Gai-Sensei" Ten-Ten said absently before looking at Naruto then turning away, her shoulders moved up and down hinting to the fact that she was sobbing.

Neji closed his eyes, and said nothing; Kiba looked around "Were is Hinata"? He asked. Neji answered, "She is helping the medics look after Choji, Lee, and Shino." Kiba gave a curt nod "good she doesn't need to see this,….I'll tell her the news if she hasn't figured it out already" Kakashi suddenly started to talk "I was supposed….to protect him, he was my student,…and my mentors only son,….and I failed them both…I-I….do not deserve to be a ninja" He choked out.

He then slumped against Gai's leg. Gai leaned down and waved a hand in front of Kakashi's visible eye. He didn't focus or flinch or anything, "Kakashi!" Gai yelled out. Shaking Kakashis shoulders. "Crap! He's going into shock or something!" he looked to Sakura who was unable to talk much less perform her duties as a medic ninja. With a growl he hauled Kakashi over his shoulder then said to Neji "I'm taking Kakashi in, someone get a body bag and mark it good so we know who is in it!" He yelled angerilly, these children, what were they doing? Now was not the time to grieve, they had duties to perform!"

Neji nodded and rubbed the few tears out of his eyes, "I'll get the body bag, and some people have to take Sasuke in as a P.O.W. for the time being before we can sort through what happened, is everyone understood?" He asked, looking around, silent nods answered him.

Sakura started to pull herself together said she had duties to perform. Already her mind was going through how Naruto died…"A sharp projectile punctured his skin and clipped the superior vena cave and the ascending aorta, entering at a slight angle missing spine, but clipped the nerve ending controlling movement to the legs."

Sakura sighed "even if he did survive… he would have been paralyzed from the waist down." 'B_ut even so, it probably would still be better than dead'_ she thought to herself, but something told her 'no' that Naruto wouldn't be able to handle something like that, but maybe he could? Maybe he would have been those people who keep on running when they can't even walk.

"But he died from blood loss", she said snapping herself form her thoughts. "Further analysis would tell me more of his conditioning, but I as a medic ninja declare him dead at the scene, Uzumaki Naruto age 17, rank…..Chunin, Konoha ninja, died at 5:31, on November 17th" she then stood stiffly "my job as a medic ninja is done." She then stumbled away.

* * *

Naruto also stood and stumbled away, he couldn't believe it either. He knew that he was dead, it was pretty obvious, he had done the damn dying. But it just hit him fully now. He was dead, now he was a ghost of some sort, well not some sort, he was a full on ghost, and it was true none of them could hear him. He had screamed and begged for them to hear him back there, he just wanted to desperately make them feel better. It was ironic, he was dead yet he was trying to comfort them.

* * *

**So I want through and made many corrections, I hope I made some parts clearer, I have not yet re-done the other chapters, I think I am only going to re-do the first five or six chapter at some point. But here is the first revision, so I hope my old readers and any new ones enjoyed.**

**NSW**


	2. The Transformation

**Life As A Fox**

**Chapter 2 *2013 Revision***

**NSW**

* * *

He ran away, away from his friends and away from that accursed ground. Away from that terrible war everything. He just ran, not knowing what to do or where to go. Naruto finally stopped in a clearing of trees, next to a fast rushing river, he peered into the water but saw nothing. _'Of course not,I'm dead, so I wouldn't have a reflection.' _He turned away from the river only to chance upon a sight he never had seen before. A fox maybe twice the size of a horse lay stretched out basking in the sun. Its nine identical tails curled passivly around it, "K-kyuubi?" Naruto finally said.

The fox opened an eye lazily, then seemed to register him. "Ah, its you kid, I see you got the boot for dealing with me, sorry about that" he said as though he were talking to Naruto about the weather. Naruto stared at him confused. "What do you mean?" he asked. "Let me guess, they said said something about you made a deal with me, and said that you were forbidden to enter heaven, am I right?" Naruto's mouth gaped open, that was exactly so.

"Y...yeah" Naruto said. The fox snorted, "They are still hung up on that? Jeesh, those gods can really hold a grudge, well like I said, I apologize for that, my bad." Naruto blinked as he sat down. "So….what do I do now?" Kyuubi spoke without opening his eyes, he must really like the sun apparently. "Travel the world, do whatever." He said waving a paw, as if trying to shoo Naruto away like a pesky toddler.

Naruto slumped down (note Kyuubi can hear and see Naruto because he is immortal and a Demon) "But what about Konoha? How am I going to warn them of Sasuke's plans?" Then after sometime he added sadly, "How am I going to save my friends?" The fox opened his eyes and lifted his large muzzle. His fur seemed to glow in the sunlight, as his warm eyes gazed into Naruto's.

Kyuubi sighed scratching his head. "You know, usually when you die, you leave that stuff behind and forget about it." Naruto shook his head standing up suddenly. "No!" he said sharply "Konoha is…was my home, it was my fathers home, it is where all the people I care about the deepest live, I can't let that get destroyed, I must protect them! I must protect them all, because they are the ones I treasure most!" Naruto said looking into the Kyuubi's startled eyes. Kyuubi with a heavy sigh stood.

Naruto looked up at the fox. "Where you going?" he asked as the fox shifted his bulk around. The fox glared at him. "I'm not going anywhere! I am just getting ready for what I am about to do." Before Naruto could say anything, the fox spoke with a great booming voice the proclaiming to all the earth it seemed. "Here me all Demons from this world and the next, this is Kyuubi no Yonbi."

He paused for a moment. "I have travled far and wide but have never met a soul so strong and willful to continue on his quest even in death, if any Demon can give this soul a way to full-fill this desire answer my call." Seconds passed by and nothing happened, but then from out of the woods, a figure emerged.

* * *

Riding a large white wolf, hair dark as a tree bark sprouting vines and flowers. Eyes green as the grass beneath Naruto's feet. She came closer, her alluring eyes looking into his. She was clad in a loose dress the color of earth that flowed freely from her body like wind. It was bunched at the waist, clasped with a sea blue sash that had designs etched upon it that Naruto knew no words to describe them. Her skin was like an almond shell glowing like sunlight drifting over water. Silver necklaces set with burning amber enveloped her throat. While rubies dangled from her ears. Gold braclets chimed with her every movement as she made her way towards them.

She dismounted from her mighty steed who disappeared with a poof. She stood before them in her full glory, Naruto looked away, he felt like he didn't deserve to see her beauty. She chuckled, her voice chiming, astounding, beguiling. "Greeting's Kyuubi, I am Ookami no Megami, your godess, I am here to answer your request my creation."

Kyuubi bowed with a graceful opulence, then lifted his eyes to her. "What is your gift?" He asked her softly, like a child talking to his mother. The goddess smiled and placed a hand under his chin, lifting his head lightly. She spoke showing off her pure white teeth. "New life" she whispered with excitement. Kyuubi widened his eyes. "You know that's-" he began but she silenced him. "I know I can't bring him back as a human, but I can bring him back as one of my own creations."

She turned her head to him raising her eye brow in amusement. "Uzumaki Naruto, are you willing to do whatever it takes to protect those you wish to protect?" Naruto nodded. Stepping forward her bare feet falling on the ground as delicately as a deers would. "Even if it meant returning into a body that is not your own?" Naruto nodded, at this moment he would take anything, he would do anything to save the village he loved. She paused before him her complete radiance almost blinding Naruto. "Good, very good, I am pleased" she said, her voice carrying smoothly like a birds song. "Step foreword" she commanded him as if trying to calm a startled creature. Naruto did as he was bided, all argument and free will seemed to vanish.

She then spoke "Naruto I will give you the power and the stamina of a wolf, as well as the mind and versatility of the fox." She said studying him. Naruto found his voice, "What...what are you going to do to me?" He asked her, if he had a heart, he knew it would be beating like a hammer in his chest. With a coy smile she spoke "Naruto, my dear, I am turning you into a demon."

Naruto stared at her, not knowing what to say. She placed a hand on his shoulder he felt a great warmth fill him as though he was being set on fire. Only, it didn't hurt, like it was a good fire. She spoke to him, words falling from a far away place. "I am placing your soul into a new body, this may tingle." He felt life flow into him once more. Filling up his hollowed form. She was right, he tingled all over, he felt like a new born lamb, shaking in the fear of this new strange world.

Then he felt the change. Sinking he shrunk towards the ground. His jaws extending forward his eyes positioning farther apart and back. His hears seemed to move to the top of his head, it felt weird, both bad and...good at the same time. He felt a prickling sensation as his skin grew fur, so much fur, he felt warm and covered. He felt internal changes, lungs expanding, spin shifting, organs moving about, and yet, it did not hurt. His body continued this metamorphosis until with one last burst of heat it was done.

Opened his new eyes he peered up the ground, he looked up. Already everything was different. His view on the world was drastically changed. His senses felt to strong, too bright, too loud, to...smelly, too much! He groaned and clamped his eyes shut. He felt his new heart thrumming in his chest. But he felt a calming hand on his shoulder, it's warmth drifted down through his thick fur, he looked up into eyes, that gave him the stability and the reassurance he needed.

She beamed down at him. "Rise" she said softly. He did so, not breaking his eye contact with her. It was different on four legs, instead of two. But he got the hang of it. Kyuubi stepped up to him, already his nose was registering everything about the fox. "Okay Naruto, now it's time to make you a demon, may I?" Kyuubi said looking to the goddess.

She nodded "Of course you may." Kyuubi grinned, "Welcome to our world, my new brother." Kyuubi said as he felt a great power well inside of him. It surged through him. Filling to almost the point of breaking. "I am giving your own chakra network, all demons have them." Naruto groaned he could tell by the density of his network that he had a lot of chakra, and it was...potent, much stronger then any humans.

Kyuubi and the goddess stepped back. The goddess circled him muttering under her breath. "Yes…..yes,….this will do." "Excellent craftsmanship Karuma." The fox lifted his head higher, growing from the compliment. With a final affirmative nod the goddess stepped back. "Yes, it is finished, now go to the river side Naruto, and see what you have become."

Naruto tentivly went to the river. Peering into the water to see what he looked like. He gasped as what looked back at him surprised him. A light crème colored wolf with his deep azure eyes. The wolf was covered with very fine soft thick fur. Had large wide paws, a deep long chest which would be perfect for running long distances for long periods of time. This suple frame was held up by long, powerful legs. His body was short and sturdy with a long fox like tail attached. Upon said tail was a tip of pure white, marking the small bit of fox within him. He turned back to the goddess and Kyuubi.

The goddess stepped forward, almost standing on top of him. "Are you ready?" she said grinning softly. Naruto was confused "ready for what?" the goddess smirked. "The beginning of a thousand miles begins with the first step." Without warning she pushed him into the river. The powerful current easily captured him. He fought against the torrent trying to keep his head up. The water roared around him. When he managed to come back up he yelled at her, coughing water. "What was that for! I can't... get out... the current is too strong!" The goddess who was growing smaller by the second seemed to speak into his mind. _"Then let the current take you."**(1)**_ That being said Naruto lost his battle with the current, and he let it carry him away.

* * *

Hinata worked herself until someone forced her to stop. But she didn't want to because if she stopped she would have nothing to keep her mind from the thoughts that just hovered out of her consciousness. Like vultures slowly circling above. She knew she had to face it, but she didn't want to, she tried reasoning and making up excuses but it did no good. She knew Naruto was dead, that there was nothing she could do about it. He was gone, and he was out of her life forever.

The realization hit her, she dropped what she was holding and stumbled out of the tent she felt weak and sick. Greif and hopelessness overtook her as she crumpled to the ground and sat. Unable to think coherently. With every sound of footsteps she hoped it was Naruto returning. Yet each time it was reveled to be someone else.

She became more and more lost into her greif. She slumped herself next to a tree. Clamped a hand over her mouth, her fingers digging into her face. A arm gripped across her chest as she bit her hand and sobbed. She disparately wanted to control herself but could not, memories and tears flooded her relentlessly, her voice became sore, unable to produce more sound. As her heart and entire being seemed to ache with a feeling of empty hollowness.

She didn't know how long it was. But finally the tears stopped, but still the sadness clung to her. She knew no name for it, only though it felt as if she were a ghost among the others. Alone in her own little world of perpetual greif and agony. Then a figure clad in dark purple strode towards her. It was Kiba she looked up at him and into his dirt smeared face. She could see the trail of tears down his cheeks, marring the dirt and his clan face paint.

It only confirmed her worst fears. Suddenly an anger overwhelmed her. Anger at everyone and everything, how could they let him die? How dare the others around them not cry! Naruto was the best and greatest person she ever known! Kiba reached for her she striked at him like a snake. A cold venom building in her blood. "DON'T TOUCH ME!...YOU LET HIM DIE!, HES DEAD! DEAD DEAD DEAD! AND I'LL NEVER SEE HIM AGAIN!" She screamed, the voice seemed not her own, even though she heard it fall from her lips, she felt her tongue contort and create the vile syllables as she screamed in rage at her classmate, teammate, and dear, dear friend.

She screamed at the top of her lungs not caring if the entire camp heard. She pulled at her hair and face, trying to release the emotion in anyway she knew how. Finally the wave of anger passed as exhaustion took over. She felt weak and terrible, she collapsed. Clutching Kiba's leg like it was her lifeline. "Kiba…." she sobbed "what do I do?...what do I do?" she asked. Kiba bent down and reached for her, this time she wrapped herself as tightly as she could. Wanting to feel some comfort, any comfort at all.

* * *

Gaara, Neji, Shikamaru, and Yamato carried in the body bag with Naruto in. It had the mark of Konoha insignia on it. But to further seperate it from the many other bags. They immortalized a swirl on it so everyone knew it was Naruto's. Kiba had went off to find Hinata while the rest carried Narutos corpse to the body collectors. They were set up and sealing the bodies in special sealing scrolls made for the dead. One man in charge looked at them he opened up a ledger book "Name?" he said professionally. Shikamaru almost said his own, but realized they were asking for the bodies name. He spoke after removing the lump in his throat, "Uzumaki Naruto."

The man sighed sadly and nodded. Even he a Konoha body collecter had heard the feats of this young man. Who couldn't? He saved so many people in so many ways, and so many countless times. "Age, 17 right?" the man said filling in the blacks. They nodded "too young" the man added under his breath. Another group of nods. The man looked up. "Hes technically a genin right?" Shikamaru smirked despite himself, that was right, Naruto never got his rank promoted, what with the attack and the war.

The man spoke "Well, from what I witnessed and heard hes more skilled then that, I'll give him the highest rank I can give….. Anbu Captain, right? He got premoted before we left" Shikamaru widened his eyes, then realized that was probably true, Naruto was skilled enough for that. Shikamaru nodded cathcing unto what the man was saying. "Yeah" Shikamaru spoke, "he wouldn't stop bragging about it."

Shikamaru said turning to Gaara. Garra nodded "don't worry, you have Suna's full authority to claim him as a Konoha Elite." They set Naruto down gently. Gaara looked down at Naruto's black bag, with the Konoha swirl. He kneeled and placed a hand upon it, skimming his fingers over it. "Good-bye, my best and greatest friend" he said quietly. Bowing his head he started the first line of a well known poem.

"W_e thrive in the chaos of enemy tide"…_

Shikamaru joined in

"Q_uiet shinobi don't need dens to hide"_

The others joined in at this time and they finished in unison

"O_ur only concern is to watch and to wait,"_

_"For our enemy to open the gate"_

When the small memorial was said the body handlers took the bag. Giving it the utmost care as they laid it down to be sealed in the special scroll that would halt the decaying process. At least until they got to Konoha and prepared for his funeral.

* * *

They staggered out free of the physical burden. But then were weighed down by the emotional burden. Just then they heard a women scream "YOU LET HIM DIE! NOW I'LL NEVER SEE HIM AGAIN." Just as suddenly as it rose it quieted. They all could guess who that was. "Looks like she took the news hard." Neji said "I think we all did" Shikamaru said. "I mean Naruto is the first from rookie nine…to die" a cold chill hit all of there spines. 'Who is next'? splayed across all their minds. But then Yamato said "Do not worry, remember, we have achieved one of Naruto's goals, peace, something Naruto would be damned proud of all of you for doing."

Shikamaru smirked and let a tear slip of remembering their comrade. "yeah, but we couldn't have done it without him, I bet that idiot is looking down on us now, eating every bowl of ramen in sight and annoying the heck out of old man third and every other soul in heaven." A small out burst of laughter came from the group as they all thought of him, all of them knowing that's exactly like Naruto.

Shikamaru turned to Gaara "so now what?" Gaara looked at him. "The nations will break camp in the morning, going out separate ways, everyone will be slowed down due to injured and the wagons carrying the supplies, but everyone will return home eventually, but right now tonight is the night of honoring our fallen, and celebrating our win, which means I am going to go get drunk in my tent, I will see you tomorrow." With that the Kazekage left them.

That night true to his word many ninja and kunochi did get drunk. Most of them were quiet about it in fact, Neji, Shikamaru and Kiba all drank until they could not even walk straight. But the reason was only to rid the feeling of sadness for their fallen comrade. Also it was the only way for them to sleep that night, what with all the memories haunting them.

* * *

Hinata woke in the morning. Her sore eyes slowly opening. She moaned as she got up. Sakura was already out, her bags and bed roll cleaned up, 'Probably doing her rounds at the medic tent.' Hinata thought, she rose and went to the command station where many other ninja stood waiting. Suddenly there was a flurry of movement and all five kages came out of the tent.

Gaara to Hinata seemed sluggish, Bee-san guarded his brothers armless side. Bee gave a nod to Hinata, she nodded back. "Attention" called out Danzo "it is time for the five Nations to break up camp. Each Nation will head in the direct vicinity of their home. We have requested that all clan members group together and head out in a alphabetical order."

There was some mumbling and grouching about. But by mid-day Konoha ninja were heading out. Hinata walked far behind of the Hyuuga clan. Even Neji who was the heir to the 2nd branch was ahead of her. No one bothered her, and if they did feel bothered about it they did not mention it. Mostly due to the vast number and the supply train and injured. Travel was slow, they ended up guiding themselves by a river that tore through the land. They travled no more then at least a 100 yards from it. Hinata felt it refreshing, hearing the distant sound of the water. It gave her something to think about, leaving her mind from wandering.

* * *

Naruto tore and scratched at the muddy bank. Grappling for something to grab onto and pull himself out of the river. He was dog tired (no pun intended) and disparately wanted the feel of solid ground beneath his….paws. Finally Naruto got hold of a wrangled old tree root, he pulled himself half out of the water then guided himself down a few meters until he came to a small eddy. He pulled himself out of the water and plopped down next to a patch of water reeds, he welcomed the few rays of sunlight to warm him and the slight wind to dry himself off. As he sunk into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

Hinata woke up the nest day feeling slightly refreshed from the long trek they had took. Deciding to get some peace and quiet before the other ninja woke up she left her tent. It was early morning, the sun just beginning to rise in the west, she walked briskly in the crisp air, the leaves on the trees were edged with yellow, hinting that fall was on its way.

She walked through the small line of forest before coming upon the view of the fast river. She sighed once more as she contemplated about Naruto. There was a small twinge of pain and a deep stab of sorrow still fresh upon her heart, but she knew life would go on, she knew If Naruto was there he would want her to go on and so she shall. Even if the barest memory of him dragged her into a raging hurricane of agony and sorrow.

She followed the river for quite some ways when she stumbled upon a poor sight. A creature, lying on its side in an exhausted heap. It was a light crème color, rather large but a quarter smaller then Akamaru. yet still quite big, its fur was ragged and damp but she saw a side move in a slight breathing pattern. She carefully made a sound giving away her presence the ears perked up and the head turned her way. Her eyes were inexplicably captured by light blue ones.

Hinata instantly recognized that this creature was a wolf, and that this wolf, for some strange crime against nature, was not wild or hostile. It looked at her with eyes that held a certain stability and curiosity. Its tail wagged slightly. Hinata bent down she held out a hand she made soft calming sounds the wolf staggered to its feet. Fear clutched in her throat, but she remained strong.

The wolf hesitantly moved towards her. She let….him come to her. then when he relaxed next to her she hesitantly reached her hand to him. Hoping, praying that he wouldn't bite her. Those jaws were full so sharp fangs...wat why was she doing this? Or right, the eyes, so serene, beautiful...calming. He slightly jumped when she touched him, but he stayed put. Amazed she ran her fingers through his damp soft fur.

She did this for who knows how long, feeling his suple form beneath her, the power that emanated from within, what kind of power was this? Soon it grew apparent that the camp was starting to wake up. She stood and gave him a final pat, "I would love to take you…..Fluffy wolf." She said nicknaming it on the spot. "But I….don't want to take you away from your home in the wild." The wolf looked at her as if he actually understood her with those unnerving intelligent eyes.

Hinata turned to walk away. The wolf was instantly by her side in step. She paused, he paused, she continued, he continued, she paused once more, he did so again. She turned to him and motioned him away but he stood resolute. As if to say 'do you really think that will work'? and she sighed and continued on walking with her new found companion in tow, she was caught up in thinking of how she was going to explain this.

* * *

**(Okay I don't really think this would work in real life, and I dont think any of you children should just go up to any wild animal or injured animal and start petting it...you might end up hurt or worse, this is a warning, but if an animal is hurt or sick notify your local law enforcement and they will figure out the best course of action.)**

* * *

She walked into camp no one had yet noticed her new four-legged shadow. But she didn't want to take the chance of him being hurt, his look screamed 'wolf' and 'kill on sight' so she continued on quickly to her tent and started to pack. She then found an old headband she used to wear that had a scratch on the top. She shrugged and whistled for the wolf, he walked up to her and made no fuss when she put it around his neck he actually seemed to swell in pride.

She stood with satisfaction, he looked...less...dangerous now. She continued to pack, just then Ino walked in. She saw the wolf and screamed. Hinata quickly covered her mouth. She pushed Ino out of her tent so that she could explain. But she wasn't quick enough. Shikamaru, and Chouji who had a broken arm and many bruises on his face came up "Ino whats wrong?"

Hinata who still covering the struggling blondes mouth spoke. "Its nothing she just won't calm down so I can explain" Shikamaru quirked an eyebrow at her. "Explain what?" Then the dog stepped out. Hinata smiled sweetly, "my new friend I found." Shikamaru looked at the wolf then to Choji then back to her. "Um,….Hinata ….I,..ah,…..damn this is troublesome" Hinata let go of Ino.

Ino staggered back "Why on earth! Do you have….that,..that,…wild animal!?" Hinata looked at him "hes not wild look how calm and nice he is" Ino looked at the wolf again, then back to her. "Yeah but still, what if he has rabies or something like that? Why is he wearing a Konoha symbol? Are you going to train him like Akamaru? You're a Hyuuga! You don't train animals!"

One question after another the blonde bombarded her. "I don't think he has rabies, I know what a dog looks like with rabies, and hes wearing that so no one try's to hurt him." She added after a brief paused. "I might train him, and it dosen't mean a god damn thing if I am a Hyuuga, I can have a pet if I want" all of them stood shocked at her use of a swear word. "…Fine then, what's his name?" said Ino getting over the shock.

Hinata folded her arms "Fluffy, I am naming him Fluffy." Fluffy seemed to choke and whined for a second (I mean imagine what Naruto would feel like when a person just blurts out his new name is Fluffy) but then sat down and looked up at them. Watching Hinata out of the corner of his eye. Shikamaru and the others looked at each other but Ino finally shrugged.

"Okay then, Fluffy is your new pet, fine whatever" she said walking away. Shikamaru then added "All of us are having breakfast at Kakashi's camp, we are going to have a small…..memoriam for Naruto." Fluffy perked his ears up at Shikamaru. Staring with an intentive gaze that made Shikamaru shudder it was so …un nerving his blue wolf eyes watched him like a hawk and had a look of mystery and intelligence behind them.

Hinata seemed to stiffen but nodded her voice growing soft as her eyes seemed to wander unknown memories. "Y-yes, I'll be there as soon as I finish packing up." Shikamaru frowned "listen ….Hinata, I know this is weird and hard, I mean even I am having some trouble getting used to this, its like too quiet, without Naruto around, and everything has become so distant, Naruto was like the glue that held us together." Shikamaru paused.

"With Naruto everything was care-free and relaxed with him, you could be super sad or angry and Naruto would just say or do something and he had you thinking about the bright side of life, that was Naruto's gift, but you and everyone needs to know we are still ninja's, and this peace probably won't last, something will happen and we'll be back to being enemies again, maybe not with Suna" he said casually shrugging.

"But with others, so we have to do our jobs, you need to learn that not all of us are going to make it and that when one dosen't return you need to fill in that place and not be lost like you are, it will cause others to die" and with that Shikamaru turned and walked away his hands in his pockets.

Hinata shook her head stopping the flood of tears, she bent to the ground and looked at Fluffy. "Shikamaru's right, I need to be stronger, not just physically but mentally and emotionally,…I have always been a push over, controlled by my clan and my father, I…..must get stronger, you'll help me right?...Fluffy" the wolf looked at her, compassion and resolve in his eyes. Once again Hinata felt as though this wolf had something inside of him, something….strong and great, with those eyes that spoke of wisdom and understanding she knew that Fluffy would be a strong base for her to lean on when times were hard.

Hinata and Fluffy walked to Kakashi's camp. Kakashi had gotton over his shock, but he still looked quite sad. Although he was pulling himself together, absorbing what strength he could from Gai and the others. It was like they were slowly adding kindle to his will of fire. All of them turned when she walked up with Fluffy by her side, Sakura and the others cocked an eyebrow, but it was Kiba who walked up to her.

He said not a word but bent down and grabbed Fluffy gruffly, he pulled back his lids to look at the eyes, he checked the gums, and a few other things before standing up and saying "perfectly healthy, but to what he is exactly…..I can't tell, he looks wolf but something about him….wait a second" he then grabbed Fluffy's tail, and looked at the tip he then seemed to study him more intently then he backed away "holy….shit" he said.

Hinata looked at him worried "what is it? Is there something wrong?" "he's part fox" Hinata gasped. "You mean he's a wolf….fox?" Kiba nodded "maybe a lone male wolf came across a female fox in heat, but its really rare for it to happen but not unheard of." She looked down at Fluffy "is that bad?" Kiba scratched his head. "Well some people believe when you mix breed wild animals something gets messed up, and sometimes they don't develop right, so he might look right on the outside but he might be bad on the inside or his behavior got messed up." Hinata looked at Fluffy, "but hes okay to keep?" Kiba rubbed his chin he didn't really want to disappoint her "you would have to have my sis check him out then, we'll see but until then just watch him".

Fluffy watched Kiba, a cool studying look as though he was thinking or planning something. But Kiba let that go, even Akamaru never thought farther then what was in his stomach, the only dog he ever known to think like that was Kuromaru his mothers familiar, who had the ability to talk. Kiba shrugged it off, just then Akamaru stalked up he growled low at Fluffy, Fluffy glanced at him and flicked an ear in indifference.

Akamaru let out a loud growl Kiba gave him a command of stand down. But Akamaru ignored it, Kiba gave it once more and reached for his coller but it was to late Akamaru sprung. Hinata gasped and lept away, her body acting on instinct. Fluffy stood braced and ready, yet still had a look of calmness around him.

Naruto waited until Akamaru was in mid air. Then dashed underneath the barreling brute. Akamaru landed where he used to be. Surprised at not landing on his target Akamaru turned around as fast as his massive size would let him. Ignoring Kiba's commands, pure hate came from him. Naruto simply waited he knew enough that in fights were one is fueled by rage that person would run out of energy first. He grinned knowing to attack just when they are at there weakest. Naruto backed up leading Akamaru towards the fire that lay behind him, hidden from Akamarus view. Naruto stopped, judging that the distance was accurate enough, Akamaru charged him.

Like being in a bull fight Naruto stepped aside at the last moment letting the dog slip by him and slide his great ugly nose into the fire. The dog let out a howl of pain and jumped away from the fire. Everyone just moved into the trees seeing how it was a fight between them two. Hinata hoped Fluffy would be all right.

Akamaru glanced over at Naruto growling as loud as he possibly could, then ran to him teeth bared, and eyes burning enraged. Naruto dodged the wicked fangs and the huge dog for a few moments. But Akamaru got a lucky swat with his font paw and sent Naruto into the air. Naruto was ready and caught himself and landed on his feet. His hind legs touching a tree, Naruto smirked slightly this was to good to be true, cause already the dog was barreling down on him.

Naruto stood patiently waiting, then at the last moment he flipped backwards and pushed himself off the tree just above the colliding body. He then jumped foreword and landed as Akamaru was picking himself up. Akamaru groggily got to his feet and turned towards him, he barely stood on his feet but charged foreword once more.

Naruto got bored of this game and charging a small sliver of chakra into his paw. He hit Akamaru against the ear, making the dog crash to the ground in a heap. This time he didn't get back up, Naruto just smirked and trotted happily over to Hinata. Who was getting down from the tree she had stood in.

She bent down and hugged him. "Good boy Fluffy! I am so proud of you!" Kiba apologized to everyone and and grabbed Akamaru by the scruff of his neck. Akamaru moaned and whimpered "you are in BIG trouble little mister!" Sakura looked at Kiba. "Little?" she said Kiba shrugged "yeah, he's a pup to me still" everyone grimaced. "I don't see it" Shikamaru said turning to Hinata. "He's a pretty good fighter that Fluffy, or Kiba is just a bad trainer" Kiba glowered.

Hinata smiled and laughed. "I do believe it is both Shikamaru." Everyone chuckled at Kiba's embarrassment. "That's not funny!" Kiba interjected. "Besides he didn't fight! he just stood in front of things and dodged out of the way so that Akamaru ran into things! It wasn't fair!" Kiba proclaimed, coming to Akamaru's defense. Kakashi placed a hand on Kiba's shoulder silencing him."Kiba, nothing is ever fair, not fights, or wars, or even peace, because life in itself is not fair." The small smile on everyone's face fell softly.

Sakura then piped up, "we built a small shrine to say good bye to Naruto in the tent, its big enough for us all, we'll say a small prayer then…have breakfast, ramen, in remembrance of Naruto." Naruto's stomach growled at that but luckily no one heard. They all walked into the tent. At the far side of it was a small wooden table erected with a picture of Naruto.

Naruto recognized it. It was the picture they took of him after the last war meeting was over in Konoha. They were goofing off with a camera and took a picture of him. In it his arms were folded over his chest as two birds perched on both of his shoulders. He smiled at the memory, it was when he was showing off his sage powers. In the picture he smiled deeply, almost laughing in a way, his eyes were bright and shining. He looked so strong yet graceful in a way, so calm and happy.

They bowed and went over the ritual prayers for death, then Kakashi got up. "Naruto, I don't know if you can hear me or any of us, but we are here to say good-bye formally, you were kind and thoughtful, yet strong and a little stubborn some of the time…" there was a pause "okay most of the time, but all of this made you, no one could say you never gave it your all, cause that is what you always did, you would turn the impossible into possible and sometimes small things like teaching a simple jutsu that was possible to others, impossible to you." There was a small round of light laughter from everyone.

Kakashi sighed "I remember all the times you annoyed me to no end, blabbering away with that trademark loud voice, I thought It would be a relief if I could no longer hear it, but sadly I was mistaken, now there is a heavy silence were you once filled with laughter and noise." A few of them had tears in the corners of their eyes, even some of the guys, Kiba whiped away his quickly. He glanced to Hinata who cried silently. Kiba reached a hand out and held hers, giving her some comfort, he knew ho hard it was on her.

Hinata looked up to him. She glanced at him, tears trailing down her cheeks. She looked so innocent, and graceful when she cried. She smiled and mouthed the word 'thanks' to him. Kiba glanced away unsure of what to say, so he continued holding her hand. Kakashi continued " I just want you to know that even though you are no longer with us, and that the days will go by turning into weeks and years, yet no matter what, you will always be in our hearts and our minds, it is were you have always been, even if you didn't know it."

Naruto sat dumbfounded and shocked , he quickly wiped a tear from his eye before anyone saw. 'Kakashi, I wish I could speak, because then I would tell you, you are not alone and that I finally realized you were right, but even if I could I can't, not yet, there is something that I must do to keep all of you safe, I am doing all of this for you".

And with that Naruto slowly slipped out of the tent leaving them to conduct the ceremony by themselves. Fate was on his side because just then he saw four Anbu walk buy guarding a person that made his blood go cold and his heart skip a beat. There he was, the one who had killed him, his murderer, the one now moving his sights unto his own home. Uchiha Sasuke, Naruto growled low after they passed and then followed them quietly.

* * *

**{1} this is from the movie Balto II wolf quest I know, but it seemed to fit perfectly.**

**I hope you enjoyed the newest chapie please REVEIW!**

**From your ever Faithful writer,**

**NSW**


	3. Treachery and The Past

**Chapter Three*2012 revised edition***

**Life as a Fox**

**NSW**

* * *

Sasuke entered through the tent flap, the Anbu stood on either sides of him, Danzo stood by a light weight traveling desk his hands folded behind his back, Danzo nodded to the Anbu guards who took the signal and left them, so it was just Danzo and Sasuke in the tent.

Danzo studied him for a bit then said "Uchiha Sasuke what can I do for you?" Sasuke said nothing "I want to go back to Konoha" the Hokage looked at him and smirked "I know that, but why?" Sasuke smirked "I wish to see all my friends again and right the wrongs I did" Danzo smirked "do you really think I am stupid, I know you know the truth, now, out with it what is you real reason?" He said moving towards his desk.

"You want to finish your revenge right?" Sasuke frowned "yes" he said answering the Hokage. Danzo smirked again "good, just as I thought, but tell me what kind of destruction did you have in mind?" Danzo said sitting down, tenting his fingertips. Sasuke was taken aback by the bluntness. Danzo continued "you may be smart boy, but you're not smart enough" Danzo reached for a brush and marked something randomly before getting back to him.

Sasuke was unnerved at how relaxed this man was, so freel talking about destruction and rebeling as if he had been planning one for years. Danzo turned to him, "you know what is your problem?" Danzo said Sasuke remained silent "you don't think things through enough, what was your plan? Get in Konoha then take the entire Ninja force on single handedly? You and I both know your strong,... but not that strong".

Sasuke frowned once more, then ran his hand through his hair, "why are you telling me this"? Danzo smirked "because lady Tsunade has awoken and reclaimed her right as Hokage, so when I reach Konoha I will step down" Sasuke quirked an eye brow "why?" Danzo grinned "like I said before, you need to think things through more." Danzo took a sip of tea, "think of it, if I step down and stay under the rader, not cause any trouble move my pawns silently..." He paused before turning glowing eyes to Sasuke, "I can strike quickly, then gain the Hokageship." Danzo said grinning greedily " permanently this time" Sasuke shivered this man, he was truly power hungry.

Sasuke however feigned ignorence and spoke pointing out a flaw in his plan."But to do that Tsunade would have to be put out of the picture…"Danzo rose "that is why you are here child, why do you think you haven't been killed yet?" Sasuke was silent "what is your plan..." Danzo grinned " how exactly do you want to destroy Konoha?" Sasuke was silent.

Danzo continued "instead of the physical part of it, why not the spiritual part? The essence, the part that has stayed alive for so long, the part that compelled you brother to do what he had to do" Sasuke stared darkly at Danzo for a second "we must destroy the will of fire, make the Ninja obey us and fight for us, not some dumb will the third gave to them, and we make the people of the village completely dependent on us, in other words we rule Konoha." Sasuke looked at Danzo "we"? he asked Danzo smirked "help me Sasuke and I can wipe your slate clean and I can give you everything, money, women,…power, and someday when I am to old, you could take up the Hokageship and run the village however you please" Sasuke eyes glinted at the thought.

Sasuke swallowed in anticipation "so what do I have to do?" Danzo grinned "now is opportune moment, Naruto is dead thanks to the Akatsuki" Danzo winked as if he knew something, 'could he possibly know that I...' Sasuke thought for a second. "The will of fire is already waning in some of the ninja ranks" Danzo continued "Naruto was their hope, now hes gone so they will turn to Tsunade, and when she is gone…, they will have no one and thus turn to us."

Sasuke got the hint "so we are going to dispose of her"? Danzo nodded "that in fact will be your job" Sasuke was puzzled "that way if you fail, I can sever my bonds to you, and save my hide, you know how it is, we look for our selves first, I did not plan this for an entire lifetime to have some brat with a shaky sword arm destroy it." Sasuke smirked "I killed my sensei, and my older brother,the old windbag will be easy" Danzo shook his head, "no we have to do it quietly poison maybe...or even suffocating her in her sleep, something that will look like an accident or natural, something that cannot lead to you or me, so I want you to lay low the first month, we'll bide our time, get everyone used to your presense then we will start with the operation."

Sasuke nodded "very well" Danzo grinned "I am glad you are on our side Uchiha Sasuke, konoha will be glad to have one of such a high pedigree back." Danzo then walked to the tent flap and looked around, then he gave a whistle and the Anbu came in and took Sasuke, "he is back to being a reinstated Ninja, but you will still be under survalliance Sasuke, only at a more relaxed distance".

* * *

Naruto sneaked away, after he heard Danzo head for the Tent flap, he quickly hid himself in the bushes hiding himself and his chakra signature, then he hurridly ran back to Kakashi's camp. 'So Sasuke is in leauge with Danzo now,...I am going to have to keep a tab on both of them' He thought to himself.

'Also I better make sure Tsunade does not have any mishaps' Naruto thought as he headed through the trees. Hinata stood worriedly looking around "Fluffy! There you are"! she exclaimed. Naruto died a bit on the inside 'Fluffy! Why did you have to give me such an embarresing name!' Naruto sighed and trotted over to her thinking like a dog would, so he stuck his tounge out and panted while wagging his tail.

Hinata smiled, her smile looked better on her then the look of loss and sadness she once wore. Already Naruto could see that the fire in her was burning brighter. Brighter then it was back when he was alive. 'Good, you need to be strong and have faith for what is to come' he looked around the camp at all the rookie nine at all his old friends.

'All of you do, there is a storm brewing' but Naruto hardend his gaze 'but this time I will not leave you, I will protect all of you, I need to be a better Naruto then I was, father if you're up there help guide me, I need to plan, I need to plan everything perfect, and right now I need to figure out how to use jutsu's with this body'.

They travled all day, Naruto stuck next to Hinata the whole time, he ignored the glances from the other clan members and so did Hinata she proudly walked her head held high, a look of challenge in her eyes. Neji sometimes came back and walked by them, he talked to her a few times and told her what the others where saying about her new pet "they say your father will make you get rid of it" Hinata rolled her eyes "the 'it' is Fluffy and I am keeping him, regardless of what father says."

Neji shook his head "Hinata you of all people know what your father is like" Hinata nodded "I know, but he has to grant me this one thing at least, he owes me a lot" Neji shook his head once more "no he's a kind of person who feels they don't owe anyone anything, Hinata you better watch yourself, he might not take to kindly to this, even if you are his daughter".

Neji then headed back to the front of the Second branch of the Hyuuga, Hinata looked down at him "were going to stick together right fluffy?" Naruto barked and wagged his tail, Hinata smiled to Naruto it may be a little degrading to act this way but he did have to keep up the guise that he was a normal (or somewhat normal) dog (for all imtensive purposes).

Plus anything to make her happy and smile, Naruto sighed on the inside why is it that he would make a fool of himself or pain himself all to make others happy? Naruto flicked his ear in annoyance, it didn't matter right now he had to worry about bigger things, because a cheer rose up from the ninja as Konoha came into view.

Everyone had filed through the main gate the supply wagons and injured had already been taken to the hospital, surprisingly Tsunade was standing with Shizune holding ton-ton and the two village elders were standing next to them, Danzo made his way to her, then bowed respectfully, she nodded to him and took her Hokage hat from him that he held out in his arms, then he spoke something in her ear she looked taken aback, but just nodded and Danzo and his guard left.

Sakura walked up to her next, she looked at the ground and bit on her lower lip unable to bring herself to look in her old mentors eyes, finally she got the courage "L-lady, Tsunade… Naruto,…he…stopped the war, and saved all our lives, he was a true hero" that was all she said. Tsunade was silent for a moment then she looked away her eyes cast downward, "I understand" then she reached out and pulled Sakura in a tight hug.

The Sensei and student split and looked at each other you could see small ovals of moisture at the edges of Tsunade's eyes, she scanned the faces all gathered, "we will serve a memorial for all of those fallen in seven days time, all of their names will be engraved on the Hero's stone, the service will be held in the chunin stadium."

Tsunade looked around at them "I am proud of all of you, you all have fought so valiantly and bravely, some of you have never had the experience of war." She said looking down sadly then back up "and some of you have delt with that grim experience already." She drifted off as she remembered her younger days of war and blood-shed.

She looked back up to all the faces looking to her, looking to her for guidance and hope, she looked to Sakura next to her. Sakura squeezed her arm in comfort, Tsunade smiled softly as her tears that had hovered in her eyes began to roll softly down her face. "Everyone of you should be proud of yourselves, and what have you accomplished." She spoke louder. "This right now tells me that the will of fire which my grandfather the Third Hokage endowed in you is strong, and will hopefully be burning brightly in all of your hearts for generations to come."

All the Ninja applauded her. Tsunade stood silently as the applause washed over her, she felt both empowered and weak at the same time, empowered because the hope and strength her ninja gave her, but then weal because there was one ninja that was not here, the one she held dearly to her heart more then some of the others. She continued to cry but wiped them away and shook hands with her warriors giving them strength and wishing them luck. The ninja then started to break away and go wherever they needed to go, the rookie nine got together at the edge and travled down the newly finished back alley way, headed towards Ichiruka Ramen, When just then Hirashi Hyuuga graced their presense.

He came around the corner a few followers of the main branch behind him, "Hinata"! he yelled in a commanding voice "what is this I hear of you adopting some mongrel half wild mutt?" Naruto moved closer to her side bracing himself not sure of what was going to happen next. Hinata, surprising everyone there did something that wasn't her, instead of looking down or away like she always did she called upon an inner fire that had laid dormant within her all her life, only now just mustering within her to challenge the absolute authority her father weilds.

She stuck her head up high, her body streitned giving her a calm strong look, her eyes showed defiance and challenge, a light never before seen in her eyes. Before she was afraid and timid, but now, those days where over with Fluffy at her side. She would show them how strong she really was. Kiba saw this change in her, and his heart for a moment skipped a beat, there was smething new about her, she glowed differently then before, he had never seen her in this way before, and he liked it.

"You hear falsely father, I have adopted a great and magnificent beast, my new companion and friend." She said looking to Fluffy. "He is not half wild mutt, who ever said that is mistaken and half witted to think this creature next to me is a wild animal" Hirashi's jaw dropped slightly, taken aback that she had spoken without taking her eyes from his and without a stutter. Then a look of certain authority took over "Hyuuga Hinata, I am your father! I command you to get rid of that beast now"!

Hinata looked down her nose at her father, "I am not a little girl any more father I can make my own decisions, you can't control me any more, and I choose to keep him,you being my father does not change my mind". Hirashi once again found himself dumb founded within the same minute, he kept standing there pointing towards the large mongrel beast, he slowly lowered his arm and fisted his hand until his knuckles turned white.

Hirashi was outraged at this, "you will pay for your disobedience GIRL!" he spat as he swiftly approached her, Hinata gasped and started to back away bringing an arm up to black the coming blow, but was to late. The sickening sound of skin slapping skin broke through the air, and Hinata was on the ground clutching a redned cheek that undoubtedly would bruise.

Before Hirashi could hit her once more. A whitish blur came in between her Hirashi and his disobedient daughter. The creature barked and snapped at him, it's fur bristling, Hirashi smirked and struck. The creature whimpered and fell to the ground in a heap. Hirashi laughed at it's pathetic form. Hirashi looked down at his miserable excuse for a daughter. She stood behind the form of her failed protector, her hand clutching her jaw she looked up to Hirashi. "You must choose my daughter." He said glaring down at her, "this pathetic beast and a life disowned from the hyuuga, or kill this beast right here and now, and claim you right to be my heir." Hinata sat confused then a certain malice, a cold hate filled her eyes, an emotion that shocked even him, something he had never seen before.

Hinata calmly stood up "I would rather die with this beast and no name then to be your caged heir" She slowly got up, the mutt moaned and turned his head towards her, Hinata spoke once more "mother was right to tell me to get away as soon as I can, how come I couldn't see until now? Why did it take a war and the loss...of someone dear to me to see this?" Hinata said softly.

Hinata looked back up at her father, the one she had always tried to impress, the one she had trusted and adored, her only living parent, because her mother..."you want to know why mother killed herself after Hinabi was born father?" everyone gasped. Few knew about how the Lady of the Hyuuga clan had died, most thought it was from something that happened during childbirth, but she had suffered for three years before succumbing to it.

Even those in the main branch did not know the secret of how the mistress had died. Hirashi has had it covered all these years. But brave Hinata spoke, the truth unveiled by the words that slipped from her tongue. Hirashi was shocked once more, that she would speak of such things, plus he had always wondered how his wife whom he admittedly treated more like a exotic bird, had escaped from her cage. Hinata then moved closer to her father " because she would have rather been dead the spend another second with _you_"

She hissed the last part with venom, "she hated you father, and it only took me until now to realize that I hate you as well." She adjusted her shoulder and spoke "I severe my bonds with you" she turned away from him, "make Hinabi your little singing bird, cause this one is not singing for you anymore".

Hinata spat the last part out emphasizing it, Hirashi twinged slightly, then his face started to turn an angry purple as he contained the fury within him, instead of hitting her once more he jutted a finger at her "you miserable wench!, I give you everything you ever wanted and this is how you pay me? Fine then! Live on the streets! Be without a name! if you really detest me that much just leave! We'll see how far you survive without the Hyuuga name!"

Before Hinata could say anything more a growling filled the air, a deep low ferocious growling that sent chills down everyones spine as the animal at Hinata's feet staggard up and stood. Then it looked up at Hirashi and bared its fangs as much as it could, its fur stood strait as an arrow, Hirashi gasped the animals eyes where in complete fiery fury as though it was looking into his very soul, on top of that he was scared at the fact that it stood when he knew it shouldn't have.

Hirashi backed away, the animal stepped towards him staggeringly. It continued to growl at him, looking ready to pounce, the pure fear the beast caused from its looks and growls, and the fact that it had stood after such a blow. It followed Hirashi with its eyes and the beast made one motion to Hirashi no one saw, it tilted its head to the side and winked.

Hirashi thought he had lost his mind for a moment, because this couldn't have happned, but the beast jumped and barked menacingly enough to make him Hirashi Hyuuga jump and scuttle over to his followers. He turned and said "you are not allowed on Hyuuga grounds until you get rid of that beast and are ready to apologize!" then scampered away like a dog with his tail in between his legs.

Hinata smirked, then twirled and jumped around "I'm free! Finally! Free! I never have to sit through a stupid clan meeting! Or attend those boring old parties my father throws!" she then stopped and looked at Fluffy and jumped to sit on her knees in the street beside him, "I can't believe what you did Fluffy! You were amazing! His aim must have been off for you to be able to stand still you stood and fought for me! You're the best guard dog I know!" she hugged him and kissed his forehead, then laughed and giggled as Fluffy barked and wagged his tail and nudged his nose to her cheek in affection, "its okay boy, the scars that really matter are now healed" Fluffy barked once more.

Hinata turned to the rest who were stunned. They had did nothing throughout the entire ordeal, not because they didn't want to, but for fear of getting their clan's in trouble if they did. "Come on guys lets go to Ichiruka Ramen!" she said happily and excitedly then ran off giggling with Fluffy bounding at her heels barking for joy as well.

They all looked at each other "is it me…" Kiba started and Sakura finished "or is it she is becoming like Naruto?" all of them looked at each other, "maybe that Fluffy has something to do with it?" Kiba said Sakura snorted "come on its just an animal, it has nothing to do with Naruto!" she said and started walking after Hinata "last one their pays!" she yelled then booked off at a dead run that got everyone into high gear.

Hinata was already slurping her way into a bowl with Fluffy at her side lapping up Ramen as well, "Hinata!" Kiba yelled "dogs are not supposed to have Ramen! Its bad for them!" Hinata looked down "oh, but he earned it plus one bowl won't hurt" Kiba shook his head "if you really want to keep him, you are going to have to learn how to take care of such a high matinance animal, you have to feed him and comb him, give him baths have vet check ups, brush his teeth, de-worm him, all this stuff, and what are you going to do when you go on missions?" Hinata looked down sadly "I thought I was going to take him with, he can do a lot of stuff..." She trailed away then turned to him, begging with her eyes "you have seen for yourself Kiba!" she exclaimed, "hes a very intelligent animal, and strong and very protective of me" Kiba shook his head.

He sat down "do you know how much time and effort it takes to train a dog like Akamaru and our clans dogs? It takes a lifetime you start from a pup and bond with him, becoming like littermates, you can't just adopt any old dog and take him in, it has taken generations of breeding to finally get dogs that can use some chakra from their owners like me and Akamaru, you have to be able to give him chakra to fight and you have to be compatiable".

Hinata looked away and sighed, all of them said nothing, then Ayame the granddaughter of the owner said wiping her forehead "hey where is Naruto?, he usually has ten bowls by now" all of them said nothing for a few moments then Sakura said "Naruto is eating Ramen with the third Hokage and all the others who have left this world" Ayame's jaw dropped she wiped away tears then went into the back for a few moments, her and her grandfather walked to the counter he yelled out to the other helpers to take a break, when all had left he turned to them his face no longer smiling.

He sat heavily against the counter "so,…Naruto's recklessness has truly caught up with him?" Sakura shook her head "no he was a hero, he took his recklessness and turned it into a trump card to save us all" Shikamaru nodded "yeah, without his sacrifice we would not be here, we would probably be all dead or still at war" the man smirked "like father like son" he said under his breath that got everyones attention even Fluffy beneath the stool, flicked his ears forward.

Kiba looked confused "wait you knew Naruto's father?" the man nodded "yes, even you do, everyone does, although you might not have known his mother, Uzumaki Kushina." The man smiled at the mention, seeming to go back in memories.

"Came here as a wee little girl, her hair was like fire, and so was her attitude, she let no one mess around with her." He said chuckling, 'taking on people twice her size, or people who out numbered her, she had no fear." He grinned "but she had a soft side she didn't like seeing those who could not defend themselves get picked on." He turned to them "I bet you can guess which parent Naruto took after" Sakura and the others looked at each other "how come we never heard of any of this?"

The mans face darkned "there was a decree by the third, no one supposed to know of Naruto's lineage, if they knew the boy would have had kidnapping attempts every night, and on-top of the Uzumaki lineage he had another very important bloodline."

Everyone squished together more "what was Naruto's lineage"? the man scratched his neck "well since hes in the here-after I can say, Naruto has two great bloodlines in his tree, the infamous Uzumaki clan, masters of fuinjutsu from the Whirlpool." He said pointing to a map nearby. "All of them most of them were wiped out though, in the second war." He added.

Kushina was one of the few survivors, you see, Uzumaki had long life spans, they could easily live into the hundreds, and still be able to walk talk and do everything, and they had a huge chakra supply, equaled only be spirits and demons." He paused "then their's his father..." The man paused then turned to a drawer beside him, he took out a box wrapped in fabric, he blew dust form it and unwrapped it.

Slowly he pulled out what looked to be a picture frame, the people who stood in it smiling, were a man and a women, one looked exactly as the man had described wild red hair, and smiling a very familiar smile, she rested a hand on a pregnant belly. The man standing next to her was also equally familiar, he had blonde hair in neat spikes, nice angled features, with a jutting handsome chin, his skin was smooth and tan, and he had very fine bright blue eyes that sparkled.

The man was familiar because he was Nimakaze Minato, the fourth Hokage, A.K.A the Yellow Flash. There was a gasp through out the group "he was the fourth Hokages son!"? the man nodded "yep, Namikaze I guess is some how related far up the family tree, to the Senju clan which is the first Hokage, and ironically his younger brother the second Hokage had a wife who was _also_ the holder of the Ninetails."

"She was Uzumaki as well, when she was old they brought Kushina to seal the Ninetails in, you see for controlling and sealing the great tailed beasts,the younger the better." The man waved his hand and placed the picture back in the drawer, "then after that is history, Kushina was Minato's protector in academy, the boy was shy ya know" they giggled and shook heads not being able to see the fourth Hokage being like that.

"Well they ended up staying together after that as friends.." the man spoke continuing the story. "Then one day she got kidnapped and he tracked them down and saved her, the declared their love for each other, she taught him all her secrets of fuinjutsu, he became Hokage, they got married, then a second later she was pregnant, boy that man was so happy when he heard he was going to be a father, even had his sensei name the kid, who knew he would be eating ramen when he thought of it", the man chuckled.

All of them stared dumb foundly "I never knew any of this about Naruto, then what happned on the day of… the attack"? Shikamaru said the man sighed "Kushina went into labor, its hard for holders I guess something about the seal makes being pregnant even tougher, on top of being pregnant for another month then usual," Sakura shook her head in dismay "you mean her term was ten months instead of nine"? he nodded "yeah, any way they went to a secluded place in case anything went wrong, and I am guessing it did, even I don't know what happned, the third kept the secret to his grave, all I know is the Kyuubi got out, and Minato gave his life up to seal the Kyuubi in Naruto." The man stopped shaking his head, "then had the third kept Narutos lineage and everything a secret to protect him, until he was ready for the truth" the man finished with a heavy sigh, Fluffy rested his head on his paws and sighed as well.

Kiba rose placing money on the table "well I guess now we know, who knew Naruto had such a bad-ass history and linage? I mean would he have been diffrent if the Kyuubi had not escaped? Would we all have been friends still? Or would he be a snooty prick because of who his father is?" the man shook his head "no Kushina would have saw to that, anyway you shouldn't think of what could have been, you should think on what has been and what will be". He said as he collected their bowls and their money.

* * *

They all left and headed out to their homes, Sakura had asked if Hinata wanted to stay over but Hinata told her she would find a hotel for the night, she needed to be alone for a bit. She sighed and walked next to Fluffy in silence, "lets go to the park" she said and headed in the direction. Naruto looked up to see storm clouds rolling in, 'this is not good' he thought to himself. Hinata pulled her jacket closer around her, the wind had picked up 'maybe I should go get a hotel room now?' she thought then realized something terrible. 'oh no I don't have my money with me! its in my baggage which is in my rolled up in my tent bag, which is in the Hyuuga compound now' she thought dryly.

Instead Hinata sat down on a cold stone park bench, it was freezing, she shivered. Fluffy whined and scooted closer to her, she was glad for the warmth his fur gave and buried her numb fingers in his fur, relishing in the burning feeling from her nerves being awoken once more. It got darker and colder, and soon it started to rain, she got up and hurried to the tunnel of a stone bridge, she huddled next to the wall curling herself in a ball, her head throbbed and she felt chilled to the bone, Fluffy curled himself as tight as he could next to her trying to warm her but she still felt cold and wet, soon she felt dizzy and weak, she crumpled all the way to the ground and closed her eyes and went into a fevered sleep.

* * *

Naruto saw Hinata close her eyes, as her body convulsed into shivers, her skin was a sickly pale blue. Naruto swore and tried to shake her awake, but to no avail, so he quickly eased himself down and shifted Hinatas's limp form unto his back balancing it. He staggard under the weight at first, but he knew he had to get her to warmth and safty going through the mental map in his head he knew Kiba's clan was the closest.

Naruto took off and went as fast as he dared to, rain pelted his fur drenching him, but his second layer of fur kept him warm and surprisingly dry in a way, finally he could see the clan gates ahead. He didn't see a sentry or guard and he couldn't really knock, so he did the only thing he thought of doing he howled for help. He through his head back and tried to convey that something was wrong and he needed immediant help to come to him, it must have worked cause suddenly he heard the sound of three dogs barking, and soon voices, the door opened and a female with brown hair and eyes with the red painted cheeks stepped outside.

She gasped and rushed to Hinata, Naruto eased her down, the female caught her, the three dogs he heard earlier growled at him but the women barked and said "enough! he is our guest no dog is to touch him!" they whined and laid their ears back in submission and backed away. She looked at him "dog, follow" he nodded and followed her as she rushed inside. Four other figures streaked across the yard. It was Kiba and Akamaru followed by a women with wild hair and a dog wearing an eye patch.

"Hana! What is…it" Kiba said then gaped "w-what hapned"! Hana shrugged "the dog howled for help, I heard him and came" Kiba quirked an eyebrow, "how did you know it was him? and some other dog in out pens who dropped a bone?" she shrugged once more "he sounded different, desperate, urgent, he had…a sort of plea in his voice, totally different from any of our dogs" Kiba nodded "fine but we have to bring her in, she's got a fever no doubt" he turned "is that okay mother"? Tsume nodded "but what of her mutt?" then to Naruto's surprise her dog stepped up and said "I'll take him, to a place where none of the others will mess with him, the young ones, want always pick fights with, strangers dogs" Tsume nodded once more "very well Kuromaru".

The large dog stepped up to him, he studied him with one eye, he made small noises but Naruto understood them "you, follow, me" Naruto looked at him and nodded, Kuromaru led him out of the rain to a small place that looked like a storage shed. He opened the door easily, Naruto watched how he did so, so that he would be able to open doors later, then stepped inside. There was a small bed on the floor, Kuromaru motioned to him "you,rest,here" he said once more using the strange animal tounge.

Naruto turned to him "what of Hinata? When will I see her again?" Kuromaru seemed to jump in surprise "what…the! How can-"? Kuromaru stared at him "you are speaking at my level of expertise!, most dogs I know, can say simple words, 'me,I,we,pack,food,attack,dodge,bed,and cat'" he said naming examples. Naruto shrugged "I am not a dog, I,…my father was a wolf, and my mother was a fox" Kuromaru looked him up and down then said "keep that fox part to yourself, if others heard,, they will try and kill you, we detest foxes, even if you half-breed" Naruto flicked an ear "my name is Fluffy" Kuromaru barked in amusment "what name, no, what is name you mother gave, not the human one given." Naruto shrugged "I don't remember" Kuromaru shook his head.

Then looked at im in disdain "you are the strangest canine I ever did see, half wolf, half fox, no true name, and to top it off has intelligence compared to mine, incredible even my own pups didn't get that." Kuromaru paused, "I mean look at Akamaru, he only cares of food, I don't want to mention the others, its to disgraceful" he shook his head Naruto quirked an ear "you still didn't answer my question" Kuromaru shot his head up.

"Right, sorry,lost I get sometimes,human Hinata will be given a bath and food, then a rest, in morning maybe, you can see her" Naruto nodded "thank-you Kuromaru" the dog sniffed at him "you sure you are canine?" Naruto shrugged and went to the pillow "one more thing Kuromaru" Kuromaru looked at him "yes"? "how is it you speak so the humans can understand you?" Kuromaru swelled his chest in pride "it took a lot of work, but find I did, a way to speak to me human" Naruto looked at him "is it teachable?" Kuromaru looked shocked once more.

He stepped closer to him "why? To what end would be of use to speak to human for you?" Naruto stood "because I want to help Hinata! I am all she has now! I need to be able to speak to her, because..." He trailed off then remembered Sasuke, lightning struck outside, the sky shaking as if a god had pounded his fists upon it. Kuromaru jumped at the sound, Naruto spoke to the startled Kuromaru.

"A bigger storm is coming, and this storm is like nothing Konoha has ever seen" Kuromaru just stared at him "tell you I will, show you I can, but you alone can learn, on own way, smart to me you seem, I believe you can figure out" Kuromaru walked to the door then turned back to him "stay here you will and with humans to train you, then storm you will survive through" then Kuromaru walked out and left Naruto alone to hear the sound of rain falling heavily against the roof.

* * *

**So, if you are one of my readers form chapters 40+ and are re-reading these newly re-done chapters, you will find a lot of things I changed and added to this, Kuromaru now speaks more like the ones you meet in the later chapters. It just seemed logical, I also changed the whole part where Hirashi confronts Hinata. Whereas I don't have Naruto attack him like before. **

**All in all I think this is more believable and more literal, I also changed the Ichiruka ramen scene, hope you enjoyed. If you are a new reader just kind of ignore everything I have said.**

**NSW**


	4. Testing and a New life

**Life as a Fox**

**Chapter Four*2013 Revision***

**NSW**

* * *

Naruto woke up the next morning and yawned; he stretched and shook himself awake as he pushed open the door to the outside world. As he looked outside he saw Rain puddles scattered about. He turned his head and listened for noise, everything was as it should be. Naruto sighed and trotted over to the main house, he found a sliding door and pushed it open; he then began to sniff the air trying to pick up on Hinata's scent.

It was weird going through someone else's home, but he couldn't help it, he had to find Hinata. He smelled a faint scent of her usual lily smell and followed his nose to her, he saw no one as he traveled through the house, once more he came to a sliding door, he opened it up and saw Hinata on a futon bed.

She had a wet towel wrapped over her forehead, and the female from last night , Hana he thought her name was. Was sitting next to her, Hana's three dogs were no where to be seen. Hinata's coughing brought Naruto to attention he walked over to her, Hana saw him then "oh,….err,…good boy, you found your master" she then patted his head gruffly.

He sat down and looked at Hinata she had more color to her and she looked more at peace but he could sense fever running through her, he nuzzled her arm giving her comfort hoping she would feel him there and know someone was still their for her.

Hana then stood and walked over to him "wow I can't believe it, Kiba was right, a wolf fox!, how interesting" she said to herself as she looked him over. Naruto rolled his eyes 'really? Am I that interesting?' then he heard a weak voice croak out "Fluffy"?. Naruto and Hana both looked to awakened Hinata. Hana was wetting a towel and placing it on her head saying that she should rest, but Hinata instead brought her arm up and put it around his neck "you saved me, good boy" then she fell back into her sleep.

Naruto sighed and laid down, when his belly growled he looked up to Hana, she stared at him a bit then she must have put two and two together "oh, silly me, of course you're hungry." She left for a bit then came back holding a metal dog bowl, she placed it in front of him, Naruto stared at it, what was in that bowl might have been a living creature at one time, but now it was canned and mashed up beyond recognition.

Naruto sniffed it, it smelled weird, then he hesitantly took a small bite because he knew he had to seem like a dog. Even though the human in him protested, he swallowed what little he got in his mouth and shivered slightly. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either, it was like tofu, it has all the nutrients but no real taste to it. Naruto sighed but kept eating it bit by bit until she left. Then he stopped and pushed the dish away, now he left Hinata for a bit to go find water to wash his mouth out.

He followed the rooms of the house feeling as though he was in a maze. Naruto who was used to his one bedroom apartment was completely astounded by how much space these people had, and some rooms where completely barren of anything, it was such a waste, did they really need that much? Then he heard a scratching and barking suddenly four dogs had come running up to him.

They were not mean or hostile, they seemed to say the same thing over and over "new dog, lets play!" Naruto who had never really 'played' before not even as a human, kids never wanted to play with him so he spent most of his child hood days alone, now these four strange dogs wanted to play with him.

Suddenly one barked loudly and bent his front so his rear stuck in the air, his tongue lolled out of his mouth and his tail wagged happily. He stayed like that as if waiting for something, Naruto looked at them confused the dogs tilted their heads and whined, another one a female this time did it, Naruto ended up backing away and trotting away from them, they just stared after him for a second then ran off with each other.

Tsume watched the new animal with much interest, ever since it woke up she followed it around at a distance, this was quite a peculiar animal, it was guarded in its posture, always looking and watching, as though it was trying to figure something out. It seemed unsure of itself which was only natural in a new place, but when the animal backed away from the inclination of playing which any dog would do, even Kuromaru! This surprised her to no end; instead the animal just went around the house opening doors and looking at things.

Once it had made a swing through all the first floor rooms He must have decided that was enough, and trotted back to his master side. Tsume then thought it was a very loyal and obedient animal, but when Kiba had told her last night Hinata had found the dog only few days ago it was just down right unnatural, no dog would be that guarding and loyal after a day or two.

Tsume to say the least was just puzzled, she decided to take a closer look at this animal, she walked into the room where Hinata slept, the dog looked up at her watching her with eerily striking blue eyes that held much composure and intelligence. It seemed to ask 'who are you'? When he cocked his head "well, Fluffy, how are you today?

"Hinata seems to be getting better, a couple more hours and she might have hypothermia, you saved her life, you're well-trained" Tsume said it was unnerving the way he had watched her a listened to her every word as if he understood them, but even more shocking was the fact he nodded his head as if to say 'yes I am'.

Tsume mulled her thoughts about for a bit then said "Fluffy, come" the dog stood up and came to her "sit" he sat, "speak" he barked, "rollover" he did so, the usual moves anyone teaches there dog. Then she smirked thinking she would confuse the dog with a few commands of an Inuzaka dog "jump and spin on the front."

After a moment's hesitation she thought she had the dog, but the dog looked like he was concentrating then he easily jumped into the air landed on his front paws holding its back legs in the air. He balanced and spun once around on its front paws.

Tsume stared shocked it had done it so gracefully and balanced it seemed to act as though it was a veteran dog of hers. She closed her mouth "jump and spin on backs" he did so with the same fluid grace, now she was astounded. She yelled gruffly "Kiba get in here!" Kiba then rushed in, "what is it ma"? He said somewhat sleepily.

He wore his usual gray shirt and black pants, his face already painted. She turned to her son "give this dog a command" she said pointing to it Kiba stared at her then looked down at it "umm…..backward flip" The dog after a little consideration braced himself then from a standing position flipped backwards and landed on its feet, a light was in its eyes as if to say 'is that the best you can do?'.

Tsume grinned this dog was very interesting, "Kiba I am going to go test this dog okay? If anyone needs anything tell them I'll get to it later, this dog is more important right now" Kiba nodded "okay , what about Hinata?" Tsume looked over at her "keep taking care of her, the poor girl, what kind of father would do that I do not know, she can stay with us for a bit." Kiba nodded and Tsume turned to the dog "okay Fluffy, follow me."

* * *

Naruto followed the Inuzaka clan leader to an empty court-yard behind the main house. There was some sort of obstacle course built there, first there was a twelve-foot high wall, followed by a set of various ladders, then a wide trench filled with water. Next three hoops, one had to jump through to get to the other side of that which was ten posts sticking up out of the ground from a giant hole in the ground that had a net strung across so if a dog or person did miss a post they would not fall and break something, or die which would be bad.

Tsume turned to the dog, "go to that line" The dog went to the line she pointed to, "stay until I blow this whistle" when the dog was situated instead of sitting or looking around like any other dog would. It stood braced ready for her. Watching her from the corner of its eye, she blew the whistle it took off like a speeding horse. It shot up from the ground and leaped most of the wall, then it propelled itself the last length by pushing its body off the wall, almost seeming to run on it.

It landed on the very top, it studied the sets of ladders for a few seconds, each ladder was set up a different way some led out to the middle of nothing and the dog would have to back up and find a new destination, but this animal was different it almost instantly found the fastest and correct route.

He dashed on to the next obstacle which was a nine foot wide trench, the dog seemed to fly across the surface of the water, but if Tsume would have looked closer near the mid-flight of his jump she would have noticed the dog placing all fours on the surface of the water for a milli- second before using the added leverage to jump the full length.

Then next was the posts, the dog fluidly jumped to each one the posts were only as wide as a dinner plate, but the way the dog moved with such balance and precision it seemed to run across the very air, in the fastest record she had ever did see, which was about 12 seconds Tsume got to see what this dog knew, and boy did it know a lot.

So the dog was fast, and had a good sense of balance as well as showing perfect stamina, but was it able to figure out problems? Think on its feet without commands? Was it able to take risks? These where the things that really mattered. So she moved on the next test the intelligence test.

It was a surprisingly simple test to humans it was actually a device given to us when we were babies, you had these figures and you had to put them in the correct space, well this was the exact same thing only when the dog did it, it got treats, and this dog was second to none the first stage was three shapes, then it went to four, six, eight, all the way to thirty-two different shapes a lot of them look very similar, but once again this dog astounded her it got each one correct.

Next she added color into the factor, you had to match the correct shape and color, and just as before he did it right, and in both tests the dog and ignored the treats. It didn't even look for them he just put the correct shapes in and moved on to the next ignoring the treats that fell out of the opening in the bottom.

Then she went to a whole level greater, she tied the dog up, then put a large lock on it that could be only opened with a key, she then put three keys out, all of them you could easily tell from each other, and you could easily tell which key was supposed to go into the right lock due to the fact it had to be a moon shaped key, the dog figured out what it had to do and picked the right key and broke itself free.

Tsume was starting to think of bringing Shikamaru Nara in to think up of something to test the beast, because she had nothing more for intelligence. She moved on to thinking on its feet, first she put the standard protection the dog would need, then headed out to gather up some other dogs.

* * *

When Tsume left Naruto sighed "holy hell, what does this women want from me? Okay the obstacle course was challenging I didn't think I was going to make it that one time, I am doing all this stuff on the fly, who knew my luck would be that good. At least I have gotten used to this body, I just don't know how to do other things, and these tests are simple, and kind of fun.

Naruto's nose brought him back to reality he smelled ten dogs, they weren't the usual large sturdy Inuzaka dogs, these were the cast-offs only one of two from each litter was paired with a Ninja, these dogs mostly were used either for breeding or training the real Inuzaka familiars. So all in all they weren't that skilled any Inuzaka dog could fight them easily.

* * *

Once she had ten good sound dogs, ones that would listen to her, she put protection on them. She then placed Fluffy in the middle of the field and had the ten dogs sit in equal spacing around Fluffy, then she got out-of-the-way and gave the command to 'attack'.

The ten dogs thinking like pack thought they would win 10 to 1 odds, was easy enough, even Tsume thought this dog would not be able to do anything. The dog did something she never saw before, instead of rushing at them, or trying to get away our cowering in the I-give-up, stance. The dog stood calm, composed, waiting for them, then it tensed its body, and sprung into action as the first dog met him. He dodged the first set of teeth, and flew through the air landing in front of the ten dog pile up.

He then waited until they sorted themselves out, the dogs rushed him in a line, a few where faster than the rest, Fluffy was even faster he dodged got underneath there heads and sunk his teeth into the fur on their necks and flipped them unto the earth using a power she couldn't believe he had. Three dogs where out, the others backed up momentarily until a new leader shifted through the ranks.

He was a big and tough dog, well muscular and large, Fluffy just waited for him, the last of the dogs made a 'V' as they charged him, this time Fluffy ran out to intercept them as well. At the last second he put his head down and hit the earth and used his body as a weapon to slide beneath the lead dogs legs and trip him, it worked all to well.

The sounds of barks in alarm and whining came from the pile as dogs legs got entwined with one another and they bit and lunged at anything that came near them in their moment of panic. Fluffy just simply picked himself off shook the dust from his fur and patted over to her, a challenge in his eyes, once again saying 'is that the best you go? It was too easy'.

Tsume then did something that was only tested once in a great while. The burning building exercise. She inside placed a doll that looked like a human baby, she then made Fluffy sniff it and get the sent in his head. She then placed the baby inside a cheap housing building on the far end of the compound it was small only two stories, four rooms on each floor, they never used it for anything other than this purpose.

She made Fluffy sit outside as she had the building set on fire. She then motioned for the dog to go after the doll. Fluffy immediately bounded for a dead blackened tree that still managed to stand after catching fire so many times, he bounded up the trunk and to a branch that lead to a second story window, he jumped through it glass and all.

* * *

Naruto landed on the wood floor already he could feel the heat of the fire downstairs, but he shook himself, and sorted through the smoke for the smell of the doll. He searched for it, it was in none of the empty rooms upstairs, so he went down stairs, he slid past the fire that was licking the sides of the stairwell, and searched the bottom half of the house.

Naruto kept his head low to where the good air was, away from the smoke, then he found the strongest scent of the doll, right beneath him. He looked carefully to see that Tsume had eased open a floor board and had placed the doll in, Naruto worked a claw in to pop open the floor board. It was tedious work, it required balance and skill to lift the jammed board using claws, but finally the board came out with a pop.

Naruto gently picked up the doll which was wrapped in a swaddled blanket, he looked around for the nearest exit, the fire had spread by now. The flames crawled up the stairs and was licking the edges of the ceiling, the very air scorched his lungs when he breathed. Naruto put his head low and danced his way through the flames, they leapt all around them, the heat from them hurt his eyes and sensitive nose, but he moved forward knowing if this where a real child this would be life or death situation.

Naruto saw the door up ahead, he momentarily paused which was a good thing because some bracing fell from ceiling just in front of him. Naruto backed slightly then braced his legs and jumped over the mound of burning derbies. He landed on the other side, now it was the door, the door knob had melted and was a glowing red, Naruto was no fool to even think of getting near it, instead he spun around and kicked the door with his back paws with all his might.

It was tiring, Naruto felt he was being roasted alive but he had to press on, a few more good hard kicks and the door buckled, he broke through and ran knowing that when that new air got to the fire there would be a back lash as the flames would burst in size.

Naruto ran all the way until he got to Tsume then he gently set the doll down, he was tired and hot, he knew parts of his fur where singed, he smelt of fire, and burned hair, but more than that he was proud, because he could see the admiration and shock in Tsume's wild eyes.

* * *

She knelt and picked up the doll, and looked at it, not a mark on it, she smirked and gently placed a hand on his shoulder, "dog, I don't know where you from, or how, but you are special, that Hinata is lucky to have you." She then stood up. "Someone stop the fire, and escort this dog to Hana, she'll look after him."

Naruto followed one of the Inuzaka's back to the main house then, Hana saw him and gasped. Tsume walked in after him "mother you didn't!" she exclaimed, Tsume nodded "I had to, right now this dog, this Fluffy, is good enough to be one of our own familiar's he was a little slow at the last exercise but he passed". Hana stood her mouth gaping, Tsume smirked then added gruffly "well, stop staring and help the poor creature, he's singed, dirty, and tired" Hana nodded and took him away to get a bath, a medical exam, and finally some real food, a steak, then it was off to bed curled up beside Hinata.

* * *

The next day Hinata's fever broke, she was able to regain much of her strength and was even going for a walk with Kiba and Fluffy by sunset. She thanked the Inuzaka household profusely before Tsume stopped her and said it was Fluffy she should thank. Hinata then said she would be out as soon as possible but Tsume would have none of it.

Tsume stood affirmative "you and Fluffy are staying here, you have no clan, and nowhere to go, and I dare not trust you on the streets without Fluffy, beside how are you going to take care of such a magnificent beat like that while your homeless?" Hinata nodded knowing Tsume was right, "but I have to earn my keep!" she exclaimed and Tsume nodded "you will, when you go on missions, half of your earnings will go to us, for boarding of you and Fluffy, but first I would have Kiba train you to get used to fighting with such a skilled animal".

So the next two days she learned the basics, since both her and Fluffy where committed and eager they flew through the quizzes and classes, both of them excelling in what their mentor taught them. Hinata would work with Kiba sometimes separate, learning how to treat dog wounds and care from Kiba and Hana, while Naruto snuck off with Kuromaru to learn a few basics of speech.

Naruto trained with Hinata by day, then snuck out and trained as well at night, he knew he had a month at least to re-learn how to do stuff in this knew body. First it was how to do jutsu's that required hand gestures, but from what Naruto learned gestures where universal if a Ninja lost a hand or finger, they could change the way they did that sign as long as there was a separate gesture for each sign, you could have jutsu's, Naruto did his gestures with his ears.

They where fluid and flexible and he was able to move them in twelve different ways to make a gesture for each of the signs, then he moved onto applying chakra, first he started out with a jutsu he knew the best, multi-shadow clone jutsu, at first he was only able to summon a half formed blob, but after more practice and concentration he was able to be back to his usual standards, once he made a 100 perfect clones he called it good.

Next he set out for chakra control again, first placing a paw on a leaf and splitting it with chakra, then he testily walked across water, once he mastered each step again (this time it took a matter of hours instead of days) he moved onto tree climbing, soon in one night he had re-learned how to do all of his genin rank and academy rank jutsu's and abilities.

* * *

The next night in worked on his resengan, knowing he couldn't use his paw, he thought long and hard of what to do, he thought of his tail but it was a no go, then he ended up thinking back to a cartoon Hinata watched in the morning before anyone was awake. About little creatures that battled other creatures, one of them was a cat that concentrated a sphere in its jaws, looking a lot like resengan, Naruto tried and discovered it would work with practice, lots and lots of practice.

Naruto once again snuck out and ran in the shadows, he quickly climbed a wall and headed towards a practice field, usually he practiced in the Inuzaka field but tonight he would need more space, so he headed to training ground seven.

He trotted peacefully through the night his canine eyes seeing everything, his nose warned him if someone was coming or not, he scattered across leaves and stuck to the walls as though he was a shadow himself. No one would think anything of him running the streets but still one had to be wary.

Once he entered the practice field, he made sure no one was around and made several clones thus he began to train to create a resengan again. It took a lot of patience but with this many clones he was making his way rapidly through it.

By midnight he had one, next he had to do it while moving, then he did it while walking across water. Naruto was happy the Kyuubis chakra did not mess with his chakra flow anymore so thus it was almost a hundred times better at chakra control, even Sakura would have to concentrate for this control.

Next Naruto sat and started to think of other jutsu's besides the ones he knew, thus Naruto began to create his own jutsu's the next two nights he thought, tested and trained many ideas some not working but others becoming complete success.

* * *

That night Naruto returned to the compound around one in the morning, a trot in his step, he had just finalized three new jutsu's tonight, the first was "Wind art: Wolf-fang no jutsu" where he created large wolves that sprang out from mouth forming with chakra and attacked the target. He could make several of them or one of them, it was both offensive and defensive to a certain degree, but only worked close to mid range.

The next was "Wind art: Claw of the Wolf" where he concentrated chakra in his paws and materialized it to form wicked sharp claws of wind chakra like his wind resengan, but without the drastic after effects, (I.e. nerve damage). Then there was his form of an ultimate defense, like the Hyuuga and their chakra shield he had one as well. But instead of spinning in place he just constantly projected his chakra forming a kind of armor in the shape of a wolf, he could extend this and disengage some parts at will, he knew this would some in handy.

Yes Naruto was happy, and he already had several ideas to what next to try, the next morning he awoke, to find Hinata was already up, he followed her scent and found her not in her training gear but a simple black gown, and not just she everyone was in one, neither her nor Kiba wore their Headbands.

Naruto whined to get her attention she looked down a sadness in her eyes, "Fluffy, we are going to the memorial, we must be respectful, I am sorry I do not think we shall train today, sorry boy" then she ruffled his fur, Naruto sighed inwardly.

Then followed them out one by one as they headed towards the stadium where Naruto defeated Neji in the chunin exams. It was also the place where there was a brutal attack on the village, memories resurfaced strongly in his head as he padded silently next to Hinata.

* * *

That's when he caught scent of trouble, he growled lowly and curled defensively around Hinata placing his body in-between her and what was coming, the entire main Hyuuga branch. With Hirashi as lead, and next to him with a plain face was little Hinabi, dressed in what was marked 'clan heiress' gown, Hinata placed a hand on his back "its okay Fluffy, I don't care, besides he dare not offend me now, he's in front of the other clan heads". Naruto barked in answer but still watched Hirashi.

He looked over and saw her and him a small twinge of anger crossed his face but he turned his head defiantly away ignoring their presence all together. Naruto and the rest made their way and him, Hinata and Kiba headed toward their places with the others of the rookie nine force.

Hinata sat next to Neji "how's it going" she whispered Neji answered just as silently "He is still waiting for you to show up at the doors, he thinks you'll fail and come crawling back to him, and he'll be able to gloat over you." Hinata shook her head "not going to happen, I am staying with the Inuzaka's" Neji nodded "so I smell, cousin" and he smirking, Hinata elbowed him.

Then all was silent as Tsunade took to the small stage erected, behind her was Fifty-eight pictures with lanterns burning by them. Each one for each Konoha Ninja that died in battle, and the one exactly in the middle was Naruto's, even in that picture frame you could easily see his bright smile and twinkling eyes from the back of the room, all the others looked dull in comparison.

Hinata's breath caught in her throat, it seemed as though Naruto was staring right at her as if saying 'what's going on? Why are you holding a funeral service? I'm not dead.' She quickly covered her mouth to stop the sob, she thought she had it under control but the emotions came back with a menace.

Just before she felt swept away by them, a warm sensation came from her leg, she looked down Fluffy was there with a paw, and his eyes instantly captivated hers holding them and calming her emotions instantly. the strong calm in those eyes where exactly what she needed to be able to live through this service.

Hinata snaked a hand down and held that paw as well, then she smiled softly through the drying tears. "Its okay, I get it, I stay strong for you, and you stay strong for me." Hinata thought it was weird, but she could have sworn that Fluffy smirked then nodded, as if he understood. But maybe too many tears in her eyes corrupted her vision.

* * *

Tsunade went on about how great a Ninja was, and how they sometimes have to pay the ultimate sacrifice. There was then a pause of silence for those who were being honored, then she went on to talk about how each Ninja made Konoha what it was, safe and free, and going on about that. It was a beautiful speech that sent chills down Hinata's spine just listening to the word's of wisdom.

They felt as though they where being spoken from the bottom of Tsunade's heart, pouring out of her very soul. Hinata realized they where, Naruto was one of the nearest and dearest to her, she also knew that Tsuande had also lost so many other loved ones as well.

Hinata instantly felt even sadder for Tsunade, knowing Tsunade had to stay composed while she talked. It seemed to Hinata while she looked around at everyone gathered, Konoha was a broken mirror and Tsunade had to pick up the fragments and put them back together. Being careful not to get cut by them.

Then it was time for a small presentation they put together of photos and sad touching music and projected it on the walls of the stadium. There where small quotes randomly put in made by each person, you knew which person belonged to which group cause a small cheer (or increased crying) came up from a certain groups of people.

Then it was a picture for the first time of Naruto. It was startling but it was clearly him, a full head of blonde hair, blue eyes, smiling, whisker marks, stood in a small kiddy pool full of mud holding a frog. A frog sat on his head, his shirt was wet and dirty and his shorts he wore totally trashed, but the most amazing thing was it was a picture of him when he was maybe five or six, a huge wave of cheering came up from most ninja, even Tsunade made a giggle and clapped for him, then it was a few other small memories, then it was Naruto's turn again.

Once more it was a young Naruto, maybe seven or eight, he stared at the camera in disbelief as one hand held a carrot away from him, the look on his face was like 'what is it, and what do you think I am supposed to do with it?' Then the quote popped up on the bottom _**"why eat food when there is Ramen?- Uzumaki Naruto" **_Next there was a few team pictures of the other ninja, a few funny ones when they graduated all wearing their headbands upside down and laughing, a few close-ups and more quotes.

Then at the very end it was a collage of all of them, then the words scrolled up the screen "these are the names we shall, never forget" then one by one they appeared and faded away, then the song ends, and just before people start clapping Tsunade stepped up to the mike, "The next part is a short video of one of these hero's , I found it while going through my office, I think all of you will enjoy it"

* * *

Then the thirds voice came on "Is this blasted thing working"?, then the camera was focused several times, then swung around to a view of the hokage office, but then the chair swung around to see a little Naruto a tiny one he couldn't have been three or four, the Thirds voice rang again "Naruto?, Naruto, say hello to the camera" Naruto looked up at him and giggled then hid "no" in the sweetest cutest voice you ever did hear, "well then tell them how old you are"? The third asked Naruto popped up "who"? The third sighed "the people who are going to watch this someday" Naruto giggled then waved happily "hello, evrybodies" then ducked under the desk again.

The Third sighed "Naruto back up here and tell me you age" Naruto giggled then held up his arm "I am four years owld"! He yelled (note he kind of has a 'w' sound in the middle of everything) the third laughed hardily "yes, yes, and do you know what that means?" Naruto popped up "I get wamen?" a loud sigh, "besides the ramen", Naruto tilted his head " then what owld man?" the third muttered "stop calling me that, I am the….oh never mind" Naruto laughed and jumped into his chair, "okay now what are you doing?" Naruto laughed "bein, okage" (he dropped the 'h' in hokage), the third laughed again "you are a little small don't ya think"? Naruto grinned "no!, I am okage! I not little!" More laughter escaped from the crowd.

Then the third placed a hat on Naruto's head, it was the Hokage hat, it completely engulfed his head, Naruto moved his head around "I…cwant…see!" he exclaimed then lifted it, "okay maybwe, I not, bwig enough yet" the third sighed "you'll get there" Naruto looked excited "really! I goin to be okage?" the third laughed "yeah one day, if you train hard enough" Naruto got a devilish grin "okay den, I will get bwigger, and stwonger, then I be okage!, you remembwer that olwd man!"

By this time the entire stadium was in tears from laughter, except for the solemn group of main branch Hyuuga, then Naruto jumped down from the chair "where are you going?" Naruto rolled his eyes "to get wamen,duh" the Third sighed "again?" Naruto grinned "yes, wemember, I have to get swonger, so I need more wamen, bye everyones!"

Naruto said directly to the camera, "wait why are you saying good-bye?" Naruto grinned "because when you say helloe, you haveta, say gwood-bye, this is my gwood-bye, the gwood-bye!, now I go get Wamen!" then he held up a purse a glint in his eyes the third said "whatthe-,…Naruto! Give me my wallet back!" then Naruto ran of screaming in laughter, the third but the camera down "little….rascal I 'll get you!" then the thirds figure passed by the camera and then you heard Naruto's voice yell "owld man, you cant catch me! Imma be, future okage….Believe it!" then the footage cut off.

* * *

By the end of the footage there was rolls of laughter, even Hinata was laughing hard, Tsunade went back to the podium, "as you can see I thought it would be good, because funerals are not just to remember the ones that are gone but to remember who they where when they where here." The service continued on normally from then on.

* * *

They walked up and put a flower in a large pile meant for each person, then they turned and left, it was usually the Hokage and relations only to those who had died, friends and comrades must go later it was a cruel and hard rule, but a rule they had to follow, so they each filed out and met up with each other outside.

Sakura hugged Hinata, "where have you been?" she asked Hinata hugged her back and said "I am staying with Kiba and his clan, Tsume and Hana treat me like family almost, and Fluffy is taken care of, I am already training him to be a good Ninja dog, we learn fast" she said happily.

Just then they heard a loud voice say out, "training a ninja dog are we?, I thought you were born Hyuuga, even if you don't deserve it, have the decency to make a name for us even if you no longer have one." Hinata turned it was her father, "what do you want now"? Hinata said seeming to sigh in frustration "You are no longer Hyuuga in name, but you still have the blood trait, you know full well what that means, you must have the seal placed on you."

Hinata gasped and stepped back "no!" she knew full well if she had that placed upon her, she would never have any freedom ever again, Fluffy stepped up fangs at the ready to defend. Hirashi glared at her "Hinata! Why must you be like this? It is the rules! All Hyuuga's that are no longer members of the main house must wear the caged bird seal" Hinata glared and snapped "I am not going to follow those rules any longer!, I am not Hyuuga therefore, I am no longer in the rules!"

Hirashi looked down at her "If you're not Hyuuga then what are you! You must have a name!" Hinata smiled, "I am Hinata, just Hinata, not Hyuuga, or Inuzaka, just Hinata, I don't need a surname" Hirashi's face turned purple in anger, then suddenly his eyes switched over.

The others were grabbed by their parents or clan mates, Tsume wanted to rip the hide of that no good Hyuuga but she knew as well as every clan head knew, if they or a person from their clan laid a hand on him or interspersed with his work, they could pay very severely, Hyuuga clan has always been a leading clan since the Uchiha had died away.

Already you could see the circle's of the sealing jutsu taking place in the area Hinata stood, she was frozen in place unable to move, but that did not mean Fluffy could not.

Naruto looked down at the symbols on the seal, already an ancient wisdom that had been passed down for generation from his mothers ancestors surfaced in his mind, he was an Uzumaki master of Fuinjutsu, they created the seals to seal away the Nine tailed fox. So he could easily see through the guise of this seal, already his mind was creating, saving and storing away the information to undo the seal.

Naruto found this ability out only a short bit ago, Megumi must have somehow gave him the true Uzumaki blood trait. He never had it when he was a human but now he did, it was interesting and helped him out greatly. Hirashi was a fool for showing this to him, but then again he was in the body of an animal Hirashi would not recognize him.

Naruto growled, daring Hirashi to step forward and place the seal, Hirashi smirked and moved, over confidence screamed from his posture, but Naruto who had trained by a Hyuuga's side for the past few days was used to the fast movement of the Hyuuga. Even that was nothing compared to what his father the Yondaime could do with flying thunder god technique.

Naruto dodged the blow, by jumping backwards and effectively pushing Hinata's paralyzed body out of the sealing center, Hinata now free activated her bakugan and went into a familiar posture, without even saying the command Fluffy was by her side in the correct position that they had trained and practiced for hours on end with Kiba drilling them.

Hirashi was shocked beyond belief not only did the dog dodge his move but was able to intercept Hinata from the seal, that said dog was growling like a wild wolf, low and menacing, his eyes where alive with anger, burning like amber in the deep blue coloring. Teeth fully bared, eerily shining white, glinting off the lights nearby.

Hirashi looked around every eye was watching him, they held their breath, their bodies taught with anticipation wanting and dreading to see what he would do next, then the animal turned its head to Hinata cocked an ear and whined, as if asking for something, Hinata smirked and said "Fluffy, sick em" with a confident slyness.

The dog barked and leaped into action, he charged him head on, Hirashi rolled his eyes and started to go into a Kitin, but before he could the dog instead changed its course looking as if to come in behind, Hirashi was going to turn toward the mutt, but Hinata intercepted him, matching each of his blows with dead on accuracy, her bakugan eyes burned with retribution and defiance.

They stayed like that, in amidst a clashing Bakugan battle, but meanwhile Fluffy was behind him, waiting and watching like the wolf in his nature does, stalking his prey.

* * *

Naruto eased up slowly, he knew Hinata would be able to defend herself, so all he had to do was wait. Right there it was Hinata had quick like struck Hirashi not a chakra node but a regular body pressure point. Hirashi was startled and backed up a step momentarily forgetting to keep an eye out, Naruto took his moment, He leaped into the range of the Hyuuga's one blind spot, angling his body so it stayed untraceable until it was too late, Hirashi caught on, but it was already to late.

Naruto dug his claws into Hirashi's shoulder effectively off balancing the man, Hinata then proceeded to strike all of his bodies chakra nodes this time, a look of a shock and triumph etched on her face. Naruto would always remember that proud look, as Hinata finally broke free from him. Naruto stayed on the defeated mans chest, his paws resting on Hirashi's throat, Hinata looked down on him, she was slightly out of breath, but stated loudly, calmly, and with all the pride she had, Hinata said "father, you will never lay a hand on me ever again, if you do I will let Fluffy kill you, and I will help him do it."

To add to her threat Naruto growled, then Hinata called him off, "you gave me everything I wanted but there is one thing I always wanted that I know you could never give me…." She paused to let it sink in "freedom, you could never bear to let something go can you? Greedy old man, well now I am taking it for myself, and this time you can't stop me." And with that she turned on her heel and marched away, Hirashi staggered up, he was about to yell something but Naruto turned, and met his eyes.

Naruto did not growl nor bark, he just stared his eyes piercing and strong, burning with an intense fire so intense and bright Hirashi had to look away, he then looked back, the animal studied him for a few more seconds before. Like a slap to his face and an even greater sting to his pride the dog bowed his head, then turned and ran after Hinata, leaving Hirashi to stare at nothing.

* * *

When all was done there was a silence, not a person said a word, it was heavy but you could feel the air start to life and buzz with emotion with every step Hinata took, finally a person started to clap. One by one until it was a roar, every person there clapped and cheered Hinata. They went up to her and patted her on the back, some even pet Fluffy, then Tsume, Kiba and Hana broke through the crowd.

They ran up to her, and hugged her, even Kiba who then broke apart and smirked wildly saying. "You did everything I taught you!, you where amazing!" Hinata reddened at the compliment but thanked Kiba, "no it was all Fluffy" she said looking down at her wonder dog, but he was not there anymore, before she could call out to him she was swept away by the crowd.

A lone figure watched Hinata get toted away, Naruto sat in the darkness of some nearby trees, he nodded 'good, that will keep her busy for a bit, I have some business to take care of', he then trotted through the evening headed towards the one place he has always been meaning to go ever since he found out about his parents, his father's home.

* * *

**My revision of the fourth chapter is done, I have re-done some parts once more, and made Naruto a bit less Gary-sue wolf off the bat, you know before I had him totally dominating things, this time I made it seem like it was harder for him than before.**

**I hope you enjoyed I think I got most of the Grammar fixed if not, I hope it is not to distracting.**

**NSW**


	5. Training begins

**Life as a Fox**

**Chapter Five*2012 EDITION***

**NSW**

* * *

Naruto stalked the streets once more, hiding in the darkness. 'I am starting to feel like a rat with all this hiding in the darkness, but to save the village I must stay low' he thought to himself. He made his way to a place few travel, it was the Home of the forth Hokage left as it was, only a few people took care of the grounds, and a person in anbu went into the house to make sure the house stayed in top form, for it was a lasting memory of the fourths heroism.

The house would have been Naruto's if had returned alive and claimed his birth right. But it was not so. So Naruto then decided to break into his house instead of claiming it, the only thing he cared about was what was in his fathers private study.

So Naruto did just that, he eased in, making sure to disengage all alarm seals placed by the Anbu. Naruto smirked and thanked his mothers heritage for giving him the ability to basically see through and disengage all these complicated seals.

Naruto walked the halls of what should have been his childhood home if it wasn't for Madara but he didn't mind, his apartment was just as good, and he had very good substitutes for his family, plus the fact of knowing his parents where technically with him all along soothed him as well.

So he continued on to the study. Once more he looked for seals, broke through them and entered the room, it once might have been a large room, but it was so filled with papers and scrolls, piled high to the ceiling. Naruto gaped 'so this is where my cluttering nature comes from' as he weaved his way through the maze of paper mountains.

Naruto settled down and began to just read, Naruto studied critically everything, locking it to memory, few new of this but when Naruto wanted to learn something, he used a small knack of ingeniousness to do it. Like Shikamaru, Naruto was also a genius when he was motivated enough, and due to the fact that he had to measure up to a S-class criminal within the body of an animal, really motivated some people to learn all they could.

He flew over the information comprehending and memorizing it, with dead on accuracy. If he was human and did this people would have freaked out if they saw him, Uzumaki Naruto, studying this intently.

Naruto even went through some scrolls that had many good wind type jutsu's, Naruto also committed them to memory and thought of ways of enhancing them or making the usable to this form. Naruto reached into a darker side of Fuinjutsu, the nasty stuff, Naruto shivered but continued on, if he knew he would ever battle Sasuke in the future he would have to somehow be able to get around the Susanoo.

Then an idea came to his head, if they could seal away an entity like the nine tails, was it possible to seal something out? The Hyuuga clan had stumbled upon it without even knowing it, they where, in a context sealing a person's chakra nodes close for a matter of time. So was it possible to seal something a person has lets say a jutsu, or ability indefinably? Well the Hyuuga clan also solved that as well, the Hyuuga clan can on a will, seal a person's ability away.

Naruto smirked, it could be possible to seal Sasuke's Susanoo out of him? So that he could never reach it, but it might require a price, something in return like the person's soul? Like when you do the sealing of a nine tailed beast inside your new born son, Naruto though harder, accessing an ancient wisdom, then it came to him.

When a person gives something up like there soul, they actually do it so they can save time and make up for the lack of something they don't have, then Naruto thought even harder, Jeriyah and orochimaru both stumbled onto something but never investigated further, the use of the five elements, if one had the use of five elements (if only for a small amount of time) that person would then be 'whole' and thus be able to do many things considered impossible, without sacrificing themselves.

So if Naruto was able to concentrate all five elements, he would be able to seal of the Susanoo! His heart lept at the thought. Now it would take a lot of elemental chakra, and a lot of time...he would have to get it right, so if he had five clones...each using the different chakra natures, then go through the different signs he already had in his head… crap! He would have to write this plan down before he forgot it.

Naruto found an empty scroll, got some ink, then quickly solved out how to write by using the only bushy thing he had, his tail, Naruto dipped the tip in the ink and began to write, his tail flying over the page, each intricate pattern of each kanji perfect, as he wrote down the instruction and the actual jutsu he then when finished with the final draft which took half the night to make.

_Āto o fū tome ko miya wa: Tatakai no kami_ _okotta_,which translated over to 'Forbidden sealing art:raging god of Battle' because the Susanoo was just that, a raging god of battle. One that grew stronger with hate (sometimes) unless Naruto was able to seal off the necessary chakra to summon it, the Susanoo only works when a certain amount of Chakra is left, and feeds off of it, also it only works as long as Sasuke can see, Naruto noticed this when Sasuke was battling Kakashi.

Naruto sighed, knowing he should get back to Hinata, but he looked at all the beautiful scrolls and papers lying their ready to be read holding wisdom that could make him even stronger. Naruto shook his head 'since when did I become so interested in learning?' Naruto smirked it was ironic, in a way he really was dead, he barely recognized himself any more, instead of loud and bright, he stayed quiet and dark, waiting from shadows, instead of goofing off and having fun he was staying reserved and training and studying to the extent of breaking into past Hokage houses to learn what was in them.

Naruto started to put everything away, but this was what he had to do, when this dark cloud that only he could see was past then he would be able to come back as his old self. But right now His village needed him, Tsunade needed him, and more importantly his friends needed him.

Naruto then went back outside to find Hinata, he followed the scent until he spotted her with many others standing in front of the hero's stone, Naruto went up to her and whined she looked down "there you are Fluffy, off visiting you female friends I bet, or getting in trouble, any way I am glad you came back, this is the Hero's stone they just added all the names to it"

Naruto sighed it was very embarrassing having to be talked to like this, but he would have to hold out until the time came, and if right on queue he caught the scent of a very familiar person. One that sent his blood to go cold with a strong hatred towards that person. He turned it was Sasuke, he held himself back from jumping on him at that moment, but he did growl just a little.

Hinata looked down at him, "Fluffy, its just Sasuke, I know you haven't met him, but you usually take so good to new people, come on now calm down," Naruto did, but he kept staring at his own name forever etched in that cold stone...as Sasuke weaved more lies of how sorry he was and blah...blah...blah.

It sickened Naruto to now end how they all nodded and seemed to share his loss, and accept him, Naruto kept his rage deep within him, controlling it so he could use it in a precise manner. He slipped deep into his unconscious and just thought, thought about what to do, what to train, how to train, and did come up with more stuff, and by that time Sasuke was gone and Hinata was calling him to leave, Naruto was about to leave when he saw Kakashi.

He was saddened, and he had taken of his hitai-ate (thank-you Bloodkitsune11) and was looking at it sadly no one else noticed it, Naruto's sharp ears picked up his mumble of "I shouldn't be a ninja, I have let to many die" then he dropped his Hitai-ate, Naruto went over to it, it laid in the mud. Kakashi started to walk away, Naruto barked, Kakashi turned. Naruto picked it up and carried it to him, Kakashi looked surprised, Naruto sent it gently on his foot and sat down looking into Kakashis eye.

* * *

Kakashi looked down at this strange yet strong animal, and looked into its eyes as it sat down, he could not name it, but it was as if the dog spoke to him through those eyes, it seemed to say 'do not give up' as if it wanted him to keep going. Kakashi was feeling as though he was wrestling himself, Naruto had always kept going and he wanted to believe in Naruto but now he was dead, like so many of his other comrades. 'Rin,Obito, Asuma, Jeriyah, Yinidame-sensei, and now...even Naruto...so many.' He thought to himself. Had always believed in going on and keep moving, yet they had died, and he lived, in fact he even came back once from death during the battle between the Peins.

Should he give it another chance? To put on that symbol that had went through so much? That had been splattered with so many tears and drenched in so much blood? The very hitai-ate that his sensei, the fourth Hokage gave him? Should he put it on, and keep moving? What was the point? He has lost almost everyone he had ever held dear to him. Then Sakura who had noticed Kakashi and Fluffy walked over to them, saw what was happening, she sighed softly then just as softly said.

"Kakashi, your not giving up are you?...look I know you lost a lot of people, but you have to remember that you meet new people as well, if you stopped being a ninja, who would be my sensei? You are the only person I would have left, plus, think Kakashi...take your own words of advice. 'Those who break the rules are considered scum, but those who forget about their comrades, are even worse then scum'". Kakashi gazed at her thoughtfully, he looked back at all the years, all the friends he had lost, even the newest casually was there, Naruto smiling proudly at him, standing next to Obito, Jeriyah, Asuma, and his sensei the fourth Hokage.

Kakashi nodded as he smiled thoughtfully beneath his mask. Sakura was right, no matter how much pain there is, sometimes just keep moving on is the only thing you can do, because even though you are lost in a dark cave, if you keep moving...your hands following along the walls and guiding your small steps... odds are you will find the light.

Kakashi looked down at his hitai-ate, he picked it up and put it back on. Then rested a hand on Fluffy's head, "thank-you Fluffy" he said and turned to Sakura and nodded, bringing her into a brief hug, before nodding to her and poofing away in a cloud of smoke. Sakura looked at Fluffy who looked at her, she sighed and walked over to the stone and rested a hand on Naruto's newly engraved name, "we need you now more then ever Naruto" Naruto sighed and said inwardly ' you don't know the half of it'.

* * *

Naruto and Hinata continued to train, getting stronger each day, while Naruto snuck to his fathers study each night to read and study. He also practiced his jutsu to seal the Sasuno, and many more, adding a few more jutsu's to his list, both water and wind type.

By the time Naruto felt he was back up to his usual level a month had swiftly went by. Naruto now knew he had to keep tabs on Sasuke from now on, and just as he had thought, everyone was back to trusting and pitying the Uchiha. Naruto kept his emotions in, saving them for _that_ day, until then he practiced more of his speech. Sometimes to see how good he was, he hid in bushes and called out to people. It seems he was getting excellent, one day he even had a very long nice chat with a blind man in the park.

Despite all this Naruto still felt he was inadequate. He had to somehow test himself, practicing with dummies brought you only so far, Hinata had not been on any missions that required him, he was always left at the compound with the other dogs. Naruto decided one day to go out and see if he could track down Sasuke, so Naruto did so, and fate was on his side, because Sasuke looked very suspicious today.

Naruto followed at a distance, every often or so the Uchiha would turn to glance over his shoulder. Then he slithered into the alleyway of two buildings and followed it until it lead to a dead-end wall, or was it? Sasuke paused momentarily then slipped through the wall; it rippled slightly, like a pool of water, and then steadied. Naruto waited a few moments before following him through.

Naruto entered in, it was a small room that lead to some steps, Naruto followed the waving dark steps down a ways before he heard voices, "Sasuke you are here", Sasuke answered "yes my lord" Naruto settled down and began to listen in, most of what they said was uninteresting, they talked of civil matters, what people they had, what people had said from other towns, what information spies had brought in.

Then finally Danzo said "Tsunade has been said to indulge in her Sake even more due to her 'stress' and 'grief', this is a perfect time to try our first plot. The sound of a drawer opening was the heard, then "this contains a poison, odorless, tasteless, and has no apparent effects until the user tries to use his or her chakra, then the person will go into a very violent seizure and have a massive attack on the nerve endings...effectively stopping the heart."

Naruto was shocked by this, there was a silence then Sasuke then said "so into her private Sake stash? Where no one has tested for poison?" Danzo chuckled "Not a complete fool are we? Yes that's exactly what I want you to do, in fact you can do it today, I have a letter made for her to come interrogate suspicious traitors immediately, go and give this to her, she will leave, Shizune will follow after her leaving you to find the stash in her office, come back when you have delivered both messages".

Naruto growled lowly, how dare he be so coy? Thinking he had Tsunade figured out to a key...but when Naruto thought about it, that was exactly what Tsunade did, she just bolted out of her office and Shizune was left chasing after her, neither one cared if someone was left standing awkwardly in her office.

The sound of two chairs scooting on the floor, made Naruto scuttle as fast as he could out of the building. He quickly then immersed himself in digging in a trash can when Sasuke came out. The raven looked at him and laughed, "wow Hinata, he really is a proud and noble beast digging in the garbage for moldy food" then he stalked away, 'jokes on you' thought Naruto ' you didn't even notice that this trash has no food in it tenge' Naruto jumped out and trailed after Sasuke once more.

* * *

Danzo was surprisingly right, once Tsunade read the letter, she ran out of the office and Shizune ran after her, completely ignoring and forgetting about Sasuke. Sasuke then began to scope out for her stash, Naruto watched all of this from behind a secret wall jeriyah had showed him with a peep hole, so Jeriyah could 'check up' on Tsunade.

Sasuke found the stash quickly, it was hidden beneath the rug in a secret compartment in the floor. He opened it, and poured the contents of the packet into each Sake bottle. Naruto waited until Sasuke was gone, then jumped out and began to collect the stash. He kept an ear cocked to listen for Tsunade coming back. He picked up each bottle gingerly, then carried them to a blank scroll, and sealed them away. He tucked the scroll into his hitai-ate, then quickly ran downstairs to the kitchen where he knew they had Sake. He brought back the right number of bottles and placed them in the secret compartment. Then shut the small door, and flipped back the rug.

Naruto then got out as fast as he could and ran to his fathers study. He put the scroll down, grabbed a bigger scroll, and sealed that scroll into the bigger scroll; he then marked the big scroll as 'evidence' Naruto then ran back to the compound before he was missed.

* * *

Naruto was lying comfortably on his side, when Kiba and Hinata came in laughing, "Man that movie was hilarious"! Kiba exclaimed, Hinata grinned widely "yeah! I agree!" Hinata came into the room. "Fluffy, how are you boy, hey guess what! in a few days I am going on an actual mission outside of the city, wanna come along"? Naruto barked happily tail wagging.

Hinata laughed and leaned down to pet him, "good boy" then they heard a knock on the door, Kiba answered it. It was Shikamaru, Ino, Sakura, and Lee. Hinata gasped and leaped for joy, "I can't believe it! We can finally meet for the first time without missions or war's getting in the way!" Sakura giggled "you are getting just as loud as the Inuzaka's Hinata! I remember a time you could barely speak!" Hinata laughed "yeah, I know" Naruto walked over, "hey Fluffy, who's a big strong dog, yes you are" Ino said petting him and making him roll over to scratch his tummy (which Naruto actually liked).

Hinata laughed "he is so pampered, I spoil him" Kiba laughed "yes, yes you do" Hinata elbowed him in the ribs, "quiet, its not like you don't pamper Akamaru" Kiba sighed "but he's just a puppy still" everyone broke into laughter, "once again, maybe to you", said Shikamaru.

Just then Tsume walked in "ah! Nara kid!" she exclaimed happily, "good just the guy I needed, listen I need you to think of some other ways to test the dogs intelligence" Shikamaru looked at her, "huh"? Tsume sighed "Fluffy, he's aced all of my intelligence tests, I need more tricky ones" Shikamaru looked at the dog, "sure let me think about it".

Then Shikamaru bent down and resumed his normal position when concentrating, after a few moments of awkward silence, he opened his eyes, then looked to Fluffy "Fluffy, I want you to go get a shogi board" before anyone could interject saying that a dog couldn't possibly know what that is, Naruto had left and dragged one back.

Shikamaru smirked "well, we have one mystery solved, the one to why he is so smart, he understands human language", they gasped except Tsume, "yeah so does Kuromaru, and most dogs" but Shikamaru shook his head, "no you see, I didn't show him what I wanted before asking him, I told him in plain tongue as if I was asking one of you, Kuromaru could probably do that as well, but Akamaru?" Shikamaru said glancing at the said dog that was chasing his own tail.

Tsume gave a shrill whistle, Kuromaru walked in, she looked to him "Kuromaru, you can talk to Fluffy in dog tongue right?" Kuromaru nodded, "well ask him what he can and can't do" Kuromaru nodded then turned to Fluffy. They started to give small barks and whimpers as they spoke to each other. "Say I can't talk" Naruto said."why?"Kuromaru asked. Naruto growled "because! They can't know a thing! not yet, do you want Konoha destroyed?" Kuromaru sighed "fine, but excuse is needed" Naruto thought for a moment, "my vocal cords aren't right" Kuromaru shrugged it was worth a shot.

Kuromaru turned back to them "voice of his, unable to speak to you." Tsume nodded, "see Shikamaru Kuromaru is not as dumb as you say him to be" Shikamaru glanced at the dog, "I never said he was dumb, I was just saying if I told him to get something he never heard of before, he would not be able to get it".

Hinata looked at Shikamaru "what do you mean?" Shikamaru sighed "well Hinata you found him in the wild, how many wild dogs do you know, that can understand what you say and know what a shogi board is when I know none of you play it, let alone tell your dogs what it is", Kiba looked at Fluffy "he does have a point, hey Kuromaru, can you ask him where he was before he came here"?.

Kuromaru looked at him "well what is story"? Naruto sighed "my father was a wolf and got shot when I was just a pup, and my only other brother died during the winter. My mom raised me and we stayed together until she got trapped and killed for her fur, I wandered lost for a while until an old man took me in and nursed me to health."

"He always played shogi by himself, and told me about it, talking to me as if I was human, but then some bad men came and attacked us I tried to fight, but couldn't the man died and I ran, I then fell into a river and met Hinata, the reason why I protect her is to make sure none of those who treat me nicely will ever get hurt when I am around".

Kuromaru turned and told them what Naruto had said, "interesting" Shikamaru said scratching his chin "oh Fluffy, that is so sad" she then reached down and hugged him tightly, "but you are a sweet and kind dog, and don't worry nothing like that will never happen" Naruto sighed but let her hug him.

Shikamaru then sat at the board, "the old man ever teach you to play" Naruto barked and walked over, and sat by it, Kuromaru then said "yes, old man taught Fluffy all of his tricks, you wont defeat me pup, Fluffy says" Shikamaru smirked "pup am I?" then the game commenced.

* * *

Shikamaru stared. Mouth agape, he was absolutely flabbergasted, he could think of nothing, he was speechless, he couldn't believe what had just happened, never and he meant never, has anyone ever bested him like this dog did. The dog just sat their staring intently, while the girls kept back giggles and the guys stifled laughter.

Then Kiba could not contain it "you just got beat by a walking fur ball,'pup'amaru." Kiba said making pun of what Fluffy had called Shikamaru. Everyone had a good laugh as Shikamaru crossed his arms and said "this is so troublesome".

Naruto nodded to Shikamaru then left, he waited until late night before he got up again and went to train once more. Naruto sighed as he walked to the training grounds, "I really should stop calling so much attention to myself, it could blow my cover" he said quietly to himself. Naruto looked up at the moon, 'someday I will be able to talk freely and laugh once more' he thought to himself and continued on into the night.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed the revision.**

**NSW**


	6. The attempt and the Revealing

**Life as a fox **

**Chapter six*2012 Revision***

**NSW**

* * *

Days went by swiftly for Naruto. Between keeping tabs on Sasuke,missions, his extra training and studying. He was running himself ragged. But he did not stop, nor did he even slow down. He pressed onward knowing that he must do this, he had to get Sasuke back, he had to.

Danzo and his goons where patient, but Naruto was more. He had stopped three assignation attempts already. He has also been writing down the names of people he has heard in the many meetings he had overheard. He also marked a map to where each secret hide out was, all of these things he kept inside his 'evidence' scroll.

* * *

Weeks went by, most everything stayed the same, but Danzo was getting testy, someone was uncovering the attempts, yet none of the attempts had been revealed to the public, it was if someone was protecting the Hokage without even telling her.

Still he paced his office, planning on what to do, 'if this keeps up, I will no choice but to overthrow her with force' he thought, then he looked down. He had one more plan to do before he was left with that option, it was a more testy approach. A quick assassination while she slept. He had no choice, he picked up a small folded paper, and put chakra into it. It formed into a little black bird, it came to life and flew to the person it was meant to go to, as he summoned Sasuke once more.

* * *

Naruto dozed, the sunlight warmed him up in a nice way. Hinata was once more with Kiba out somewhere, 'its good she has got over me, Kiba will be good for her' he thought to himself. Knowing full well that they were more then 'just friends' after Naruto had saw them in a deep kiss behind a tree only a few days ago. Naruto smiled sadly he knew that even if he was human, he could never like her like that. She was a smart beautiful, kind person, but he saw her like a sister, the same with Sakura, he didn't know who he liked.

So in a way it was good he died, it eased over the fact he would have had to confront her about it, and he didn't want to see her sighed a rolled over, something was bugging him; he decided to get up and go see what Sasuke was up to.

Naruto walked the streets openly, no one paid any real attention to him, but still Naruto kept a wary eye out, then Naruto saw a flash of familiar reflex, he hid behind a barrel, it was Sasuke, and in his pocket he could see the edge of a paper black bird which meant Danzo had summoned him.

Naruto grinned, 'my gut is always right' he thought as he quickly followed but made it look like he was not following, once again Sasuke disappeared by a familiar walk through wall, Naruto slipped in carefully after.

Placing himself in his usual hidden spot, a small vent duct. Danzo was getting testy he could smell it, finally he said "this is the last 'silent' option we have" He said angrily throwing something at Sasuke. He commanded Sasuke violently "sneak into her room when she is asleep, and smother her with a pillow." He said then added "It will look natural, everyone will think the old bitch died of old age, so no one will suspect foul play."

That was it, Sasuke nodded, and left, Naruto then got up and entered the outside world again. Naruto's heart raced in his throat, his gut told him that the time was drawing in, Naruto quickly ran to the woods and once again trained his sealing jutsu even more, practicing until it was perfect.

* * *

Sasuke Uchiha snuck through a window, Tsunade had no guards or any arms due to the fact she was Tsunade, no one would try and mess with her. Oh how naïve people could be. Sasuke wore a black mask to cover his face, his hair was pulled back in a small pony to keep out of his eyes, and he eased across the floor, slowly, making sure not to make a noise.

Finally he came to her bedroom, she slept deeply, her henge taken off for the night. She had some wrinkles but due to her good health and assortment of creams she used she did not look as old as she should be. Her hair on the other hand was thin and graying. She looked in a way innocent, the way she had no idea her life was about to end. Sasuke poised a pillow ready to smother her, it was just over her head when, a howl split the calm night, Sasuke vanished dashed away instantly, as Tsunade woke with a start.

* * *

She heard the sound of something landing softly outside her window then the poof of someone transporting themselves away. Tsunade rose and calmly went to the window that was open, somehow she knew that her life had been in danger, it was like a premonition in her gut. She smirked as she reached to grab a almost invisible object naked in the night. But she did see, a strand of beautiful black hair, this told her that the person who had broke in and probably tried to murder her in her sleep...with a pillow...how interesting.

Tsunade placed the hair in a small bag, then went through her mind of those who knew the transporting jutsu, then with black or dark long hair, then to people who have questionable backgrounds, she snorted it was quite obvious who had tried to do this, lets just say she was going to have a very interesting chat with Uchiha Sasuke tomorrow.

Then it dawned on her that tomorrow she had to do a rookie nine assessment. So he was going to be there and if he did show, she could question him. If he didn't then she could assume (if her hunch was right) it was him, then she could track him down and kill him. Briefly the thought of Naruto crossed her mind, 'sorry brat, wherever you are, he's not worth saving, I hope you understand'.

Then she went back to bed, (after locking the windows of course), Naruto smirked to himself, he howled at just the right time, he ran happily back, adding an extra bound in his step. That should slow them down, he thought as he ran back to the compound, before Hinata woke up to find him missing. . . again, the last time was not good. Kiba got in her head that he was out visiting 'lady friends' and he needed to be taken 'care of' meaning fixed and he was NOT getting that done, not without a fight of course.

* * *

Sasuke swore and cursed, as he ripped the mask off, he would have to get her another time until then act like nothing happened, so he would go to the assessment tomorrow even though his guts told him no. But would did he care, the only thing at the moment he wanted was revenge on that animal that had made that noise. It was a deliberate howl, and there was only one animal in the entire village to howl like that, that low moaning wolf howl, with a slight high pitched keen to it. Lets just say he was going to have an interesting talk with Hinata tomorrow.

* * *

Naruto sat looking up at the moon, his nerves where frazzled and his heart raced, 'tomorrow is most assuredly going to be the confrontation day_' _he thought to himself. Naruto heaved a heavy sigh, 'I wonder what they will think?' he thought as he looked towards Hinata's room.

* * *

Naruto followed Hinata and Kiba as they walked to the Hokage's office. They were caught up in conversation and paid him no heed. So Naruto taking his chance, slowly slipped behind them and soon split away and ran to his father house. He went over and picked up his evidence scroll and was about to go when he spotted some old wrist braces. They were in a far corner, hidden and tucked away in the back, he walked over to them, they where metal, with leather padding on the inside to keep the skin from chaffing. They where long enough and big enough to fit on his for arms of his legs. he looked closer to see the Uzumaki swirl pattern lightly traced in the brandished metal, Naruto smirked as he saw his reflection.

He looked up as a thought ran into his head, 'why the heck not' he said to himself, 'it's not like I am going to a normal dog from now on'.

* * *

Everyone waited quietly in the office, Sensei's where not allowed at the meetings which was good because everyone was squished already. There was few chairs that where in the office, Hinata sat on Kibas lap Kiba had one arm around her waist, everyone laughed a giggled and joked around (except Sasuke, Shino, and Shikamaru).

Then Tsunade cleared her throat, everyone calmed down, "okay everyone, I am bringing important news, I am thinking of stepping down as Hokage." There was an audible gasp throughout the room, before anyone could yell at her 'why?' she put her hand up. "It seems to be that I am in inadequate Hokage" Sakura snapped out "what makes you say that?" Tsunade replied calmly "because last night there was a try on my life, while I was asleep in my own house".

There was a dead silence throughout the room, then she continued "but I have narrowed out the possibilities of who did it" She said then continued "one, they know the transporting jutsu." She said holding up one finger." "Two they have dark hair" She looked to Sasuke, "now Sasuke, I am not saying it was you, but you have both of these qualities. As investigation stands, I have to question all suspects, do you have an alibi for last night? Around the time between 10:00pm and 1:00am?" Sasuke stepped foreword, "I do, and I was heading home with a slight buzz from the bar I was at".

Tsunade quirked an eyebrow, "can anyone back your statement"? Sasuke nodded then fumbled in his pockets, he pulled out a receipt from the bar, Tsunade looked at it, it stated he had a few drinks and a meal at 10:30 and have him leaving at 11:45. She cursed the attack was at 11:30. She sighed maybe she really was getting old, she nodded and gave it back, "very well Sasuke I am sorry about this, it is my duty" Sasuke nodded "I understand completely, but I swear to you, I am trying to turn over a new leaf, I am not the old Sasuke I once was".

Before anyone could say a thing a deep voice rang out "that's right this Sasuke Uchiha is even more murderous then before" Tsunade whirled around, and everyone looked to the sound of the voice. It was coming from a figure that stood in the window. Hinata gasped, everyone else stared, there was Fluffy, dressed in what looked like chest Armor (like anbu wears) and metal braces on his forearms of his front legs. His Hitai-ate was not Hinata's old one but a different one made with black fabric, and across his back a large scroll was strapped, he glared at Sasuke eyes full of hate.

No one said a word until Hinata muttered out "Fluffy?" the dog looked to her "in context yes, but that is not my real name, however, right now I have more important things on my mind then names."He jumped down and growled at Sasuke. "Very clever counterfeit, you had Danzo make you last night, makes you look almost innocent, I also like the added affect of you turning over a new leaf, but we both know that the only time you turn a leaf...is to destroy it".

He then jumped on Tsunade's desk, and growled, Sasuke backed away, "what are you talking about . . . mutt" Fluffy smirked, "very funny, but unlike you Uchiha, when I plan my revenge I think things through a lot better, I plan everything and leave no room for error." He paused sending a knowing look at Sasuke. "Like what happened last night, did I startle you with my howl?" Fluffy said putting his head up Innocnetly then said "I know It was startling enough to wake the Hokage up" then the dog grinned his fangs showing.

Sasuke glared at the dog, "like I said I have no idea" Fluffy sighed, "Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke, when will you ever learn? Acting like an idiot will never solve your problems, I learned that the hard way. . .anyway, it doesn't matter" He said shaking it from mind. "Because I have all the evidence of every attempt you have done...sealed away, in this scroll" he then flipped the scroll on the desk, ". . . in here you will find plans and plots for not only last night's attempt but many others I saved you from Lady Tsunade".

Sasuke glared he bit his lip in anger, "careful Sasuke with that temper of yours, I bet your wondering. . . how I did all this? How did I know about everything?..." seeing the look on Sasuke's face Fluffy grinned. Then said darkly, "didn't I say Sasuke? That you had better watch yourself?. . . That I would be watching?. . . Does that ring a bell"? Sasuke staggered back as if Fluffy has struck him.

"N-no,. . . It, c-can't be possible!, y-your dead"! Fluffy grinned from ear to ear, "so I thought as well, but it turned out the demons took pity on me. . . and gave me this body, not too shabby?" He said turning around as if showing off. "A little difficult at first but, it's easier to blend in like this." Sasuke cursed, "How did you come back?" Fluffy sat down, "easy, once I died I wandered for a bit, and like I said the demons took pity and here I am".

* * *

At this time most everyone was confused as hell, trying to figure things out. Shikamaru was burning gears in his mind as he too was trying to clarify what was happening, by only using the verbal ques that Sasuke and Naruto were giving.

* * *

Sasuke said nothing then started, "Why? Why not go to the afterlife"? Fluffy sighed "sadly, thanks to that little deal I made with Kyuubi, I was not permitted to enter heaven" He sighed. "So I was banished to be a ghost, but surprisingly, I met with Kyuubi later, and he did this summoning thing, and then the Demon goddess appeared and what happened... well happened" He said looking down to himself. Sasuke said nothing, but already some realization was coming across the faces of the more smarter of the rookie nine.

He yawned "plus, I really wanted to get revenge on the one who killed me" He said casually. Then huffed "but of course, I had to obey Sakura's wishes, I let you return...now you are back, so that promise is paid." Fluffy trailed off then rose a glint in his eye, "now I can finally avenge my own death." He snapped at Sasuke.

It was silent, then Sakura broke it saying "Naruto"? He flickered his eyes to her. To everyone, then nodded slightly "correct, I am sorry for fooling you, and mostly you Hinata, I am very ashamed how I used you to get back, but I hope we can still be friends after this, but right now I have business to take care of" then Naruto growled lowly.

* * *

Tsunade stood up slamming her hands, Naruto leaped away, and turned to her, and yelled "Everyone stop this now! Just because a dog talks and says it is Naruto and gives me a scroll saying is evidence does not mean it is true-""BAA-CHAN!" Naruto barked out (no pun intended) so forcefully, yet also hinted sadness. Caused her to pause. "You sit back down and sip your tea, and read that scroll, I will handle the traitor, you and I both know that one death could never take away my nindo." There was a silence. "I never give up, and I never run away, I proved that once and it cost me, and I am proving it once more, but this time, I will be returning back to you".

Tsunade slumped in her chair, then Naruto turned to them. Flickering his eyes back to Sasuke, "tell me,. . . Tenge, ready for a real fight this time?" Sasuke smirked "are you sure you can handle this?" Naruto grinned "believe me Uchiha, this body is armed to the teeth with weapons, all pointing directly at you, lets see how much you like getting stabbed in the chest with a sword, all I can tell you is...its pretty damn painful."

Sasuke winced but stepped foreword. Naruto's ears where a flurry of movement, as a few shadow clones appeared, "stay back, this is my fight, no one intersperse, don't worry, you won't lose me a second time, I promise" He said as the clones herded them into a tight group in the corner. Then he switched back to Sasuke. Sasuke drew his sword, Naruto sighed 'it is time', his ears where a flurry of movement once more, then four clones appeared, but these clones where different, even Naruto changed.

* * *

Blue chakra swirled around him, his eyes glowed brightly, each clone traveled to a certain destination. Each one seemed to stand for a certain element, Naruto was wind, the clone with dark ochre fur and warm amber eyes with a Kanji for fire on its forehead obviously stood for fire, orange like chakra swirled around him.

The next one was water, light blue fur, dark almost purple grey eyes, with the kanji for water, then a dark brown furred clone, with muddy eyes stood for earth the chakra around him swirled like a sandstorm. Then the last clone was a bright yellow, its eyes a pulsing green, its fur sparked, and the chakra crackled around him, they lined up perfect spacing and everything.

Naruto then quickly cut his wrist with a sharp edge of one of his bracers. The blood splattered to the floor, then the clones and Naruto moved in sync as they went through some sort of dance with ears, it wasn't until half way through Shikamaru noticed that the blood was animated and moving. Writing strange symbols on the floor, it was a very huge, very complex sort of seal, and he could see already that it somehow paralyzed Sasuke who was straining to move.

Then the blood finished writing, Shikamaru could understand very little of it, and he considered himself a seal pro. All he knew was it sealed something very powerful, very strong, but in a way he had never seen. The chakra around the clones formed into ghostly wolf heads, each one howled eerily. Sasuke collapsed to his knees, a strange black mass oozed out of him. He screamed in agony, a terrible ripping and shredding sound filled the room, along with a dark coldness, it sent chills down their spines, this chakra was cold and resentful, something unnatural and not right.

It grew more and more pressing down upon them with an evil pressure. Until the full Sasunoo warrior was emitting from Sasuke yet he still cried in agony, the wolf heads pounced, they swirled around the mass. It bellowed and roared demonically, but the wolves where not effected, they just curled tighter and tighter around the mass, seeming to herd it somewhere.

The wolves struck, they grabbed a hold of the mass, it screeched as well did Sasuke. A pulsing light filled the room, the mass shrank, and shrank, it fought but the wolves beat it down, howling and growling, the elemental chakra flared and sparked in the air, soon both the wolves and the mass disappeared. The room seemed to lighten back up with the coldness gone. Sasuke sat his head flung backward as he clutched his eyes, they bled and smoked. With one last burst of chakra Sasuke was flung to the floor, he rolled around slightly yelling "Fuck! My eyes! What the hell?".

Naruto panted slightly, the four clones where gone, "it,… is finished, my Forbidden Sealing art: raging god of battle" Naruto shuddered slightly, "it takes quite a bit of chakra, plus...to concentrate that much elemental chakra for so long...it's insane, but...it effectively seals away your Sasunoo." He said finally. "You can never access that power ever again."

Sasuke stood, he rubbed his eyes once more, "sealing huh?" Naruto nodded "yeah, I am actually glad I take after my mother, seals come in handy" Sasuke blinked a few times, "I guess, but you are still at a loss, I can actually use my jutsu's, how are you supposed to do resengan as a dog"? Naruto growled "_wolf…fox….hybrid_" He spat. "Also,I would be glad to show you,. . . but this not the place" Naruto then leapt towards Sasuke, Sasuke brought his sword out, Naruto deflected the blade with his bracers, then used the sword to propel him behind Sasuke.

Sasuke turned to him, but not swift enough, using his jutsu that concentrated his chakra into claws he swung at Sasuke. Who wasn't able to move in time, the claws hit him in the guts, he flew across the room and through a window, clipping the wall with his head on his way out. Naruto landed gracefully on his feet, he turned to his clones, "no one intersperses" the clones nodded and formed a guarding circle around everyone.

* * *

Everyone was shocked for a moment, "I can't believe it, he was . . . alive all this time, and next to us the entire time" Then a clone said softly "we wanted to keep all of you safe, and so we let you deal with your grief, we also wanted you to learn to get stronger and be able to believe and have faith when we are not there to inspire it".

Shikamaru nodded to the clone, "thank-you Naruto even if you are a clone" the clone nodded "you welcome- gah! Dammit! Didn't move fast enough!" Sakura gasped "what is it? What's wrong?" the clone shook itself "nothing much, just a flesh wound. . ." Naruto clone smirked "Tenge got a lucky jab with his over-sized butter knife, nothing I can't handle"! then the clone grinned, and winked "don't go worrying you head about me, I made a promise remember-. . . stupid! Cock sucking prick! You and your Chidori blade! lets see how much you like it!" it was so ironic, Hinata couldn't stifle the laugh, neither could anyone else.

* * *

Naruto growled lowly. they where battling it out on the roof. A few chunks of the roof were smoking craters, another few spots were on fire. Naruto winced Sasuke got a lucky cut on his left front leg above the brace. Then he got hit by a chidori blade which had made his back leg go numb for a bit, although he was getting feeling in it once more. Sasuke though didn't escape unscathed either, a large cut bled freely on his hand from where Naruto sunk his teeth.

They glared and charged at each other once more, they dodged and intercepted blows. Naruto using his chakra shield to block and even attack, then he brought chakra claws down once more. Sasuke blocked with his sword, but the amount of force added to the fact it was in his weakened hand made him lose his sword and it flipped end over end in the air and disappeared out of sight.

Sasuke flipped backwards and went into the familiar hand signs for the 'fire release: great dragon fire technique' a large burst of flames came hurdling at Naruto in the form of a dragon. Naruto quickly brought up his Chakra shields, the fire swirled around him as he braced himself in his little dome of safety. Here he was caught in a raging inferno, and knowing Sasuke he would be using this distraction to come up behind him, or attack him from above.

Naruto leaped up his chakra shield forming to fir around his body as he leaped away from the inferno to intercept Sasuke who was jumping over the flames to attack from behind, they met in the middle Naruto did his 'Great wolf fangs no jutsu' and attacked the surprised Sasuke. The large wolf head lunged to snap at him, Sasuke defended it off with 'fire release: great fireball technique' .

Both of them landed studying each other when the flames dispersed, all in all they where even, Sasuke bent forward slightly then using his special bracelets that had Shuriken sealed away, he threw dozens of the things at him. Naruto had to dodge them, and in doing so lost track of where Sasuke was, when Sasuke came behind him and used his Strong fist.

Naruto dodged and sprang up his teeth sunk Into Sasuke's arm, Sasuke sent a small amount of lightning chakra into his fist and punched Naruto in the head to get Naruto off of him. Naruto's fangs dragged across Sasuke skin, causing him to rip Sasuke's arm wide open. Sasuke exclaimed and tossed him with new found strength. Naruto flew quite a ways, and the lightning chakra he was hit with messed up his nerves, mainly the ones telling his feet and legs to save him from crashing across the roof and landing in a heap.

Naruto staggered to his feet when he was able to. Sasuke was wrapping his arm, he had grown pale from blood loss. Naruto spat the iron taste of blood from his mouth not knowing if it was Sasuke's or his own. Sasuke glowered at him then with his able arm and hand he formed a chidori. It crackled like a 1000 birds (hence the name) Naruto growled and started to form the resengan in his mouth, the two charged at each other, Naruto leaped and Sasuke yelled, the two jutsu's collided, an infamous orb once again formed.

* * *

Naruto stared at Sasuke, Sasuke stared at Naruto, Sasuke was fighting for his life he had nowhere to go, and no one to go to. Naruto felt his resolve slip ever so slightly, but hardened his heart. 'You brought this on yourself Sasuke, what goes around comes around' he thought then he sent an extra burst of chakra through his jutsu and it broke through the chidori. The combination of the two jutsu's expanded and started to tear apart the building, finally the building had enough and started to collapse(luckily no one was in it,. . .or near it).

Naruto landed on what he thought was a stable peice, he couldn't see where Sasuke landed, but the roof was giving way. Before he could jump away, Sasuke appeared with his sword. Naruto was surprised, but then Sasuke's blade punctured through his armor and into rib cage, cracking a few ribs. Naruto yelped in sudden pain, Naruto grappled the air, as he fell. He grabbed Sasuke's ankle and with all his might bit down. Until he heard a satisfying 'snap' and Sasuke screamed in agony, and they both fell with the building falling upon them.

* * *

All of them knew something had gone wrong, a terrible roaring sound was heard Tsunade got up and said "they just destroyed that new apartment complex", but before she could say anything more, the clones all howled in agony, all of them disappeared except for one, who stayed for a bit longer, "S-sasuke got me,. . . when I fell, through m-my armor, r-ribs cracked, I- I am buried in the rubble, Sasuke, b-broken ankle,. . .low chakra, . . . both of us, bleeding pretty bad, . . . scratch that, . . . both of us is…" then the clone disappeared as well.

Tsunade quick as a flash jumped through the huge gaping hole in her office wall, and ran to the pile of rubble, she yelled out "Naruto!" but there was no reply.

* * *

Naruto stirred awake, he was in darkness once more, he woke with a start 'I can't be dead' was his mantra for a few seconds before he realized he was in pain, a lot of it. He looked over himself, he had landed in a good place, a large section of the roof had kept him from being squished by the rest of the stuff. In fact he even spotted a way out, Naruto slowly moved his body seeing what was hurt. His front left leg was broken, Sasuke's sword was gone but he could tell his ribs where more then fractured, and ironically he was stabbed in the chest once more, by a very large wood splinter.

Naruto winced as he got up, he felt lightheaded but he stood, he climbed slowly, his vest was all but destroyed, but still the protection lasted a little while at least. The jumps it took to reach the light jarred him and sent pain through out his entire being. He coughed, blood filled his mouth, he wheezed, 'shit, my lung must be punctured' he thought and continued on 'I must get help, or I will die,…again' he added flatly.

Naruto made it to the opening, he worked his way through to freedom, he looked down Tsunade was far below him. Looking intently for something, Naruto saw a flash of light, it was Sasuke. As he had hobbled into view Naruto could see he held a broken sword. Naruto looked to his side and noticed that the other half of the sword was jutting out from his side, 'interesting' he thought to himself.

The look in Sasuke's eyes was what gave away his plan, Naruto gasped then jumped into action, ignoring the protest of his poor body, he rushed to Tsunade's aid who was too busy looking for him, to watch for her own hide. Naruto raced and leaped into the air just as Sasuke had raised his broken sword, Naruto landed just in time tackling him to the ground Tsunade turned in surprise, and dismay as they wrestled with the last of their strength with each other.

* * *

Naruto had knocked away the broken blade, his jaws ready to crush Sasuke's jugular, Sasuke was holding him back with his good arm, choking him. Naruto shot a paw foreword to strike him, he cut Sasuke's face. Sasuke yelled in pain, and loosened his grip, Naruto was merely a few centimeters from achieving his goal, when out of nowhere a voice in a crackled old tone said "earth wall of destruction" Naruto glanced in time to see a huge wall of earth, it hit him so hard he felt nothing for a bit, then his body registered the pain, he blacked out but woke back up when he landed in the dust.

* * *

The council member then had him captured and pressed him more and more into the ground, Naruto looked to see it was the male village elder Mitokado. Tsunade saw Naruto's pain and what was happening, then she went over and shook the elder like a dog (once again no pun intended) "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING LET HIM GO! HE'S IN PAIN!" the elder let the jutsu go only because he couldn't concentrate when someone was shaking him.

Tsunade then turned and ran to Naruto's side, he was a wreak an absolute wreak. She had seen better looking corps-, she dare not finish that sentence, she began to remove the destroyed armor. Then set out to remove the large wood splinter lodged in his chest, Sakura by that time had arrived, she sank to her side wordlessly, and began to help her, there was so much to do, everything with in him, was battered, bruised, or punctured, his ribs on his right side where mostly broken, his lung was punctured and was filling with blood even as they tried to stop all his other bleeding.

Naruto coughed up blood then looked at them, "don't worry, it doesn't feel as bad as it looks- ark!" he said trying and failing to comfort them, then Naruto's eyes started to close and open, "Naruto what's wrong" Hinata said scooting next to his head, "good, you're here, everyone is here, this time,. . . last time, . .it was bad,. . . I was alone, that was the part I hated,. . . dying alone."

Hinata started to cry "w-we didn't mean t-to" Naruto breathed haggardly "there is that stutter again,. . . and don't worry I know, but the thing is, … I really am afraid, . . .no I am petrified of death" he closed his eyes and a tear rolled out "I don't,…I don't want to die again, I-I just came back,. . . and got to see what you guys had grown into, I don't want to leave you, . . .I want to stay. . " Naruto turned his head slightly, dragging it in the earth, "P-please,. . . S-sakura d-don't let me die" he pleaded to her with his voice and eyes.

Sakura pushed tears from hey eyes "you're not going to Naruto, not until a long time when you are an old and have lived a good long happy life" Naruto sighed "I died, . . .when I was only 17,. . . I never got to see my dream, I never was able to find a women and settle down have children,. . . have a team of my own, none of that, but I still was H-happy,. . . I-I had the greatest friends I could ask for, I had sensei's and teachers who believed in my dream, and in a way I have trained Konohamaru, he's like a student to me,. . . yes. . . I was happy,. . not old, but happy. . . in a way" Naruto coughed.

Naruto whimpered "it's happening, I can feel the pull once more, P-Please Sakura, Tsunade, tell me what to do!" Hinata gripped his paw "hold on" she whispered Naruto looked at her "I am sorry for lying to you; I know you liked…me, but I am s-so-, s-sorry, even, if… I was,…Human, again, I don't think….." Hinata nodded "I understand", Naruto grinned "we had some pretty fun times though, look what we did with Hirashi, I just hope you are able to fight him back if I d-"Naruto stopped his ears where perked, and his eyes focused on something else.

For a moment Hinata's blood chilled, she thought that he was gone. Seeing that which only those who were mvoing onto the next world saw, but he still breathed. So she turned and so did everyone else, except Tsunade and Sakura, who where busy trying to save his life. Hinata gasped at was a women, dark skin, but beautiful, twigs and leaves where in her hair, her robes where shimmering and perfect, she had many bangles on her wrists and ankles, her jewelry was warm amber, she walked confidently up to them. Beside her walked a man that looked like Naruto only he had red hair and eyes, and a more bronze skin, he was taller and had nine tails flowing from him, and two fox ears.

* * *

Naruto coughed and said "O-okami no megami? . . .Kyu? What are you doing looking like me"? the Kyuubi chuckled and sat down next to him "here you lay almost dead, and you are wondering about my appearance, okay so I needed a human form I decided to borrow your image just change it, slightly,. . . it works" the goddess leaned down "what did you do?, get run over by a buildi-" she looked at the destroyed building heap, then Naruto said "that's exactly what happened." She grinned "that is why I can not be mad, your soul, so strong and happy, able to joke when death is lurking nearby" Naruto coughed "well Kyuubi, go scare death away, your breath out to do it" the man laughed "ha! You are a funny kit all right, but no it's not me who will scare death away, Megumi-Chan, will do that" he said grinning at her.

Naruto smirked "you're going out now?" He smirked "maybe. . ." the goddess elbowed him in the ribs "quiet you over grown fur ball, I have to heal my small warrior" Naruto coughed "I am not small" but then went into a fit of coughing, "quickly turn him to his back" she snapped, Tsunade and Sakura did just that, Megumi put her hands on his chest, "to help you healers I will give him an image for you to work with" then like that Naruto's appearance changed back to his real one, he was a Human once more, only he was pale, blood trickled form his mouth and he had a large puncture in his chest, he wore black pants but no shirt or anything else, you could see a large bruise where his lung was, a small silver shard tuck out of it, Megumi swiftly pulled it out, Naruto's body flinched and he yelped.

Megumi started to heal him, Tsunade and Sakura where able to work a lot better now they had a human anatomy to work with. Naruto looked at each ones face, Shikamaru looked at him "come on Naruto you can pull through this" Naruto smirked "you never can truly see how you live your life until you look around at people that are by your sick bed or. . . deathbed" Kyuubi sighed "you know if you keep saying your going to die, you might jinx your self and really kick the bucket,….again, then maybe I can have the goddess of small furry animals resurrect you as a squirrel…" Kyuubi snorted, Naruto sighed and Megumi did as well "you have a terrible humor,…Kyu" Naruto said "hey I am a 9000 year old demon, I am easily amused if I wasn't I would have died of boredom long ago, or went crazy and try to attack a village" he grinned "ah…..good times, good times".

Naruto smirked "ironic, isn't how life works, I get stabbed in the chest yet again, and your back in the village you attacked-hey! What about our deal!"? Kyuubi shrugged, "what? I am not attacking it", Naruto sighed "I died for nothing, you still broke the promise," then Naruto smirked again "thanks" he said then his eyes fell "you know I am very tired I think I will go to sleep, that okay right? Megumi nodded, "you are out of the clear". Then she stepped away and the image disappeared and Naruto was back to a sleeping wolf form.

* * *

Shikamaru, Neji, Kiba, and Tsunade and Sakura eased Naruto onto a stretcher and carried him to the Hospital, once Naruto was asleep and under machines for the night Tsunade turned matters to finding out the information Naruto had paid so dearly for. First she found out that the council members had taken Sasuke Uchiha to a private council center to be healed she ordered a squad of Anbu to watch him and the council members at all times, then she went to her office and opened up the scroll marked evidence, and inside read as followed.

* * *

_Sept 12, followed Sasuke Uchiha at 1:36 p.m, he entered main hideout number one, a hidden building in between Negami snacks, and hodi's bar, entrance hidden under seal, very unique wrote down below._

Tsunade looked to see intricate patterns, she skimmed it, and sighed seals weren't her strong suite, so she decided to keep on reading.

_Sasuke and danzo talked for half an hour to an hour on various subjects ranging from governmental issues to networking within other villages._

_Note to self: next mission to Onogakure, find more information on Hitoshi Satomi._

_Sept 14, Sasuke poisoned Tsunade's Sake stash, got rid of stash and sealed it away, stole more Sake to replace poisoned Sake._

Tsunade twinge involuntary, just the thought that someone had found her stash and had messed with it gave her the heebi jeepis

* * *

.

_Sept 18th, was able to give away location of a would be assignation attempt when Tsunade was at the grand opening for new factory, man (Hyusha Toyo) was able to come up with good enough alibi and escaped prosecution._

_Sept 21st, disengaged bomb that was sent into mail and was carelessly put in the mail room below hokage office._

_Note to self: dogs can get paper cuts._

_Double note: Bombs are very touchy._

_Triple Note: move mail room to a different vicinity if I ever become Hokage._

* * *

The scroll went on and on about different notes, Naruto had even made a list of what each person that worked for Danzo did each day and night, for everyday, he had everything down to there favorite food, and color. 'I must say his observatory skills have sky rocketed' Tsunade thought dryly to herself, but she smiled inwardly, Naruto had done class A information gathering, even she would not hope to do this without placing a person in danger, but Naruto could, 'I will have to use him for other missions I have in mind'.

Tsunade thumbed through more of the scroll, studying intently the information Naruto had gathered on the plant that was used to make her poison, if Naruto was master at sealing, she would be master at being able to figure out antidotes to anything, in her head already she was putting together information to make a counter to this new poison, it could be very deadly.

Tsunade sighed but she had more important work to do, "shizune get me Shikamaru" she said Shizune rushed off and a few moments later Shikamaru was in her office standing at attention. "Shikamaru, put together a worthy team, you need to hit and sack whatever documents and papers you can get from these various locations, be careful some of them are guarded by Genjutsu and Anbu guards, but Naruto was kind enough to supply all our answers."

She handed him the scroll Shikamaru studied it with a surprised look then nodded, he left the office, Tsunade leaned back in her chair and looked at the Hokage Monument, "you know Yondaime, you should be proud of your son, even if he no longer has a human body he still has his heart, and surprisingly he finally got the brains."

* * *

Shikamaru called together, Neji, Lee, Sakura, Choji, Ino, and Sai, they formed ranks and where about to leave when Kiba Hinata and Ten-Ten arrived, "we're going with Shikamaru, Naruto did it for all of us, so all of us should do it for him", Shikamaru couldn't argue with them, besides they where right, but he wasn't about to let them know that.

They ransacked the nearest location, this one was not guarded by people but various traps, but thankfully Naruto put in detail how to get around each one, the took everything and sealed it away in scrolls, then moved on to the next one and next one. There was four buildings in all, only two had people in them, Shikamaru wasn't going to say it was a piece of cake, some had slipped through their fingers and fled while others fought back hard. But the rookie nine had the strength and anger to fight back.

All in all they did an okay job, but if it wasn't for Naruto's scroll and tips they would have been beaten before they got to the third hideout. The good news was, they were able to capture Danzo. Sure Sakura had to stitch Shikamaru up, but if Naruto could lay his life on the line so could Shikamaru even though he got severe verbal abuse by Sakura, Ten-Ten, and basically everyone.

* * *

They returned back to the Hospital and Sakura led them upstairs to a private wing, to a private room, there inside on the bed an oxygen tube through his mouth, many different IV's coming out of his arms, and layers upon layers of wrappings around his chest and broken leg, was Naruto still asleep. But a steady strong heart beat emitted from the machine and Shikamaru couldn't describe it, but even though Naruto looked battered and beaten, be he seemed to be stronger, at least in his mind.

Sakura walked over silently to him then leaned down and whispered "we did it Naruto, we captured Danzo, so you sit back and rest, we got this, your right, you leaving us did make us stronger" then she kissed his forehead and walked out of the room, Hinata situated herself in a chair next to him, Shikamaru finally realized how tired he was, and walked over to a chair and was asleep before he even sat down.

* * *

**Holy crap, younger me did not know how to use periods or page breaks...that took awhile, I think...O,O no way...three hours? THREE HOURS...ha...ha**

**excuse me while I go collapse...**

**NSW**


	7. Naruto once more

**Life as a Fox**

**Chapter Seven*2012 EDITION***

**NSW**

* * *

Naruto was lost in darkness, but he knew it was a good darkness. He felt relaxed and calm. Slowly he began to hear the sounds of the real world filtering through his conscious. Naruto creaked an eye open, the room was dim, small rays of light from very early morning however peaked through the windows. Illuminating it and around the room he could see several forms slumped next to each other, or leaning against the wall. The room was filled with the sounds of soft snores. Naruto looked to see that Neji, Shikamaru, Ino, Ten-ten, Kiba, Sai, and Hinata (who was curled over his bed)were all there.

Naruto sighed they all looked so very Naruto began to move his limbs going slow testing what exactly hurt. His entire chest and front leg where both completely bandaged. Naruto looked around for his braces, they lie on the nearby bedside table. Naruto yawned and started to rise, no pain at first, but a dull ache in his chest. He also discovered a sharp bolt of pain through his leg when he tried to apply pressure.

Naruto (keeping his injured leg off the ground) worked a blanket from beneath him and covered Hinata, he knew she had to be cold. Then he looked at the others, Ino looked a little cold as well, so he covered her, the rest had a lot of clothing or had blankets already.

Naruto then looked at Neji once more. Naruto scanned the nin's peaceful face thoughtfully then he remembered the caged bird seal. Naruto quickly crossed the room to Sai's bag. He quietly riffled through it to find a blank scroll and ink. Once he had that he sat down and began to write out the counter seal that he had created but never had time to do. He couldn't free the entire second branch like he had promised to Neji, but he would free Neji from his curse.

It was tedious work and the sun was rising fast, but Naruto did not notice. He was busy laying the last brush strokes down, it was almost complete another line of rites, a few more path symbolism and it would be ready.

Naruto however was so into his work he didn't hear some of the people in the room beginning to wake up. It was actully Shikamaru who awoke first. Shikamaru had first looked to the bed when he woke up. He had a brief rush of fear when he saw that the bed Naruto had been in was empty but then he saw movement in the corner of his vision. He flickered his eyes towards the floor.

There Naruto was, in a slightly odd position holding his one front leg up off the ground. He was balancing on three paws, while his tail dipped into an ink well and began to write on an open scroll that lay before him. Shikamaru studied his work, it held many lines of intricate lettering and symbols. Naruto was completely captivated in his work, his eyes never leaving the paper, he worked with a complete disembodiment to the outside world.

Shikamaru watched him for a bit, then Naruto laid the final symbol. Naruto looked over his work then nodded, he replaced the cap for the ink then let the scroll dry a little. He yawned then finally looked up, his eyes met Shikamaru's, Naruto nodded to him then placed the tip of his tail to his mouth then flickered an ear to the other sleeping forms as if to say 'shhh', Shikamaru nodded.

* * *

Naruto jumped onto the bed, he winced slightly but situated himself comfortably staring out at the sunrise. Shikamaru and him watched the sunrise in a respectful silence. Neither wanted to break the beauty and purity of it. Then, Ino decided to shift in her sleep, she ended up falling off of her chair landing on Ten-ten, who snapped awake and shot her arm out. Effectively hitting Neji in an area lower then the stomach. Neji snapped awake and proceeded to clutch that which was harmed, while kicking Sai in the process. Sai was kicked sideways and was now about to land on Naruto's scroll that he just finished. Naruto leaped from the bed and grabbed it (he regretted doing this for the pain which it caused) with his teeth caring it far away from harm.

Naruto dropped it gently on the other side of the room, before limping back. He glared at everyone who where accusing each other (except for Neji, he couldn't talk at the moment), The bickering was loud enough to wake Hinata, Naruto sighed and leaped up onto his bed, no one noticed except for Hinata and Shikamaru, he barked once, twice, then when no one listened he howled "QUIET!".

Everyone paused and looked at him. He sat and looked at Ino, "you ruined a perfectly good sun rise" then turned to look out the window, everyone else awkwardly looked out the window as well. They watched it silently, until Naruto spoke. "Some things never change, both a dog and a human can enjoy the sun rise and sunset, both a dog and human can enjoy a bowl of ramen,...granted a dog can't have it as often, but that way it makes the ramen even more rare and beautiful" he looked at them, "and both a dog and human can still have there greatest frineds on this earth" then he grinned, "any way sorry for yelling at you earlier, good morning." He said tail wagging.

Hinata yawned, "that's okay, any way how are you?" Naruto stretched, "it hurts to put pressure on this leg, and my chest aches a little, but the greatest pain is the fact I haven't had a bowl of ramen in almost a month, I am going to go crazy, please can I have some ramen Hinata! Please please please!" he said begging.

Hinata laughed "well one bowl won't hurt" Naruto did a back flip for joy "boo-yah!" then landed on his good legs, once again, he winced then said "remind me not to do that again", Hinata nodded "any way" he said jumping up back on the bed, "how are you all feeling?" he said looking at them seriously.

Shikamaru scratched his head "its weird the last time I saw you, you were,…." Naruto finished the unfinished sentence "dead, I know I remember that as well" he visibly shuddered, then he shook his head "speaking of that, where is Sasuke? I almost had him, a few more centimeters then it would have been him gasping for air looking up into cold merciless eyes"! Naruto growled with the thought.

Hinata gulped she shuddered 'The things he has witnessed' she thought to herself. "I am sorry, the council members have taken him to be treated, he has the Uchiha bloodline, but Danzo has been arrested, and quite a few others, you evidence scroll held a lot of good things." She said hoping t cheer him up. She continued.

"We were able to infiltrate his hideouts, they too housed a lot of evidence, you did good" She said finally then asked "when did you do all this anyway?" Naruto smirked "and you thought I was visiting lady friends, I must tell you though I haven't even laid an eye on a single poodle".

Hinata laughed out right, everyone else chuckled. "I'm sorry Naruto we just thought, and OH MY GOD WE WHERE GOING TO!" She stopped herself and blushed. Naruto snickered "yeah, when I heard that conversation I was a lot more sneaky, but not only did I go and keep tabs of Sasuke I also trained and perfected that Sasunoo sealing technique" then Naruto bolted up "speaking of sealing!" He exclaimed startling the others.

He ran to the scroll and picked it up and dragged it over. "When you where all sleeping I created this for you Neji" he held a scroll in his jaw. Then dropped it into the floor rolling it open. "What is it"? Neji asked "its time the caged bird is let free" Naruto said affirmatively.

Neji's eyes widened knowing the meaning of those words a hand went to his forehead. "It can't be" Naruto nodded "luckily I inherited more then my loudness, and my ramen loving from my mother, I also have the Uzumaki trait of Fuinjutsu and sealing" He grinned wildly then added "and your seal is nothing but simple toddler work to me".

Neji gulped "but not even Anbu have been able to crack it"! Naruto scoffed "hello, your speaking to an Uzumaki did I not just say that?" Naruto unrolled the scroll, "remove the Hitai-ate" Neji was about to when Hinata said "wait Naruto you should let your body heal".

Naruto sighed "oh, I have enough time to do that, lets get this done with now, besides I love seals" he said a happy light in his eyes. They admitted to the fact that he seemed to sometimes day dream about them. Neji undid his headband and gave it to Ten-ten to hold. Naruto ushered him to the middle of the floor. He made several clones, they each dipped a tail in the ink and began to write some stuff on the floor. Sai noticed it was his ink but mearly shrugged when he saw it.

Naruto and his clones finished, he was about to start when Shikamaru butted in "how do you do jutsu's?" Naruto sighed and wiggled his ears. Shikamaru and everyone looked at him "wait,… with your ears?" Naruto growled in inaptness "yes, I figured it out okay? It's the only thing that works! My tail is not as flexible as it seems...and...ears work perfectly" Ino stifled a snort. Naruto sighed "can I just got on with this? Or do you need to ruin this as well"? Ino shook her head "no…no,..just go".

Naruto rolled his eyes and began. His eyes closed in concentration, then an aura formed around him, it slowly built up in mass. It began to shift and form, until it was an exact (granted it was made of chakra) replica of his old body. The only thing that was different was that the eyes had no pupils, and no whisker marks, just a chakra blue Naruto image.

Neji stared into the eyes. The form drifted through the air to him, with each movement the image blurred as if it was being blown by a strong wind. When it was in front of him, it reached out an arm. It touched his forehead. Neji felt as though his forehead was on fire, a small pin-point that flared out, making the rest of his body numb with cold. A cold sweat broke out on him, his heart beat wild, seeming to want to leap out of his chest.

The chakra Naruto held up his other arm, in the sign for chakra concentration, then a burning went through Neji's entire being. Electricity seemed to shoot down his spine, pulsating. His body spasmed from it. Then, just as sudden as it started, it was over. A great relief overwhelmed him, as if he was burdened down with something for a very long time. Neji felt light and finally free.

Naruto stepped back from him and staggered, "that,….. took more then I thought" then he collapsed to the floor, Hinata rushed to his side. "Are you all right?" she exclaimed, worry knitting her brow, the others got up to help. Naruto sighed and motioned them to sit back down. He spoke to Hinata "me being all right depends...do you have that ramen?. . . yet?" Hinata shook her head "no" she said confused. Naruto then slumped down, "then no, . . . I am not all right".

Just then Sakura entered the room, she held a silver metal tray in her hands. She looked at the bed, then to the floor where a large circle made entirely out of ink was, then to Neji who had a removed headband and unknown to him a smoking forehead. Then to Naruto, who was on his side with Hinata next to him looking worredly at him.

Sakura calmly took all this in then set the tray down gently. She then turned, already a deadly aura sorounded her. Naruto whimpered, and tried to stand, once he succeeded he said "hello Sakura-chan, and how lovely a day it is to be alive, . . .and how lovely a day it is to be kind and forgiving to a person who just released a 2nd branch Hyuga from there cage seal" he said giving her a smile.

Sakura's anger seemed to dissipate. She sighed "I am sorry Naruto I just don't want you over exerting yourself, you don't have the Kyuubi to heal you now, your body has to." She turned and picked something off the tray, it was a rather large needle. She turned back to him, her eyes staring at that needle."Right now its time for your medicine." But when she looked at Naruto. Naruto was backing away, a wild fear in his eye, he whimpered, then said in a distant voice "no. . . Sasuke! Don't!"

* * *

The minute he saw that light gleam off of that metal tip. Naruto was instantly haunted by memories that he swore he would never re-live. But his mind broke his promise as the harrowing events unfolded once more. Sasuke his friend, and comrade whom he had trusted was advancing on him. Cornering him, holding that sword, ready to kill. Naruto yelled and howled at Sasuke hoping he would listen, but all for naught. The blade kept getting closer and closer, Naruto had to act quick he had to defend himself.

* * *

Naruto then let out a low growl at Sakura. His eyes switching and glowing with a wild fright and anger. His fur bristled and his teeth, gleaming and menacing were bared. His ears flipped backward, Naruto looked like the complete embodiment of terror. Sakura shuddered and slowly lowered the needle behind her back. Naruto's eyes watched her, when the needle was gone his fur and posture relaxed. His eyes blinked a couple times as he came back to the real world, he looked around at everyone gaped at him, their eyes fearful and confused. He staggered again, Hinata luckily caught him.

By that time Naruto was over run with emotions. Anger at Sasuke. Fear of what he just re witnessed. Sickned by the fact he was about to hurt Sakura. But most importantly, it was the fact that everything hit him then. Like running into a brick wall he was side struck with the true weight of of what had happened to him, all he been through him, all that he had lost.

Naruto never got to deal with his grief. Since the moment he had a new body, he had been running and plotting and planning. His mind had to be strong, he never let the emotions out, he bottled them up, kept inside. But now they resurfaced, resurfaced with a vengeance. He buried his head into Hinata's arms making her hold him close, then he wept.

* * *

Hinata caught him as his entire body leaned against hers for support. Hinata remembered back to the funeral. Naruto was strong for her then, now it was her turn to be strong for him. She held him and stroked his fur and made soothing sounds. Sakura put the needle back and walked over to them, she sat on the ground next to him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" Naruto said slightly muffled "its, . . . okay, neither did I".

Naruto whimpered slightly, "I,. . .never, got to deal, with,. . .it" he paused to sniffle "you know? The betrayal, and the fact,. . . that I...that I can never have my dream... not in this form." He stopped talking for a bit, sobs taking him. "I thought... I thought I could handle it, but...I just avoided it, avoided thinking... I buried my grief, and my sorrow of my failure and plunged myself into work." He said regrettably His voice shook at the next part. " I kept on thinking, that the day I killed Sasuke." He said sharply. "Then from then on...everything would be all right".

Neji then spoke "Naruto it's fine, everyone makes mistakes at times, we all do." He continued "But you need to know something, you need to know, that sometimes...something are meant to be shared with others...no one person should bear a load they cannot, it's okay to ask for help...for support, you didn't need to do this, but then again you did need to as well..you needed to know if you were strong enough to still do this, and for that I thank you."

Neji continued "I also want to say, that if there is anyone who could convince Konoha, that a talking wolf demon could be a Hokage...it could be you." Naruto smirked then began to laugh. "Thank-you Neji." Neji continued "plus I mean...you also beat Shikamaru in shogi."

Remembering the thought, Shikamaru piped up "yeah! How where you able to do that? when I asked you to play it when you where a human, you said you had no idea!" Naruto rose his head "easy, I am smart enough to act like a fool so no one requires me to do anything, cause they think I can't do it, that way,. . . I was able to go eat ramen all the time" He grinned. "So you see, I am a fool, then again I am a wise fool, cause only a wise men is wise enough to act like fool to get out of things he doesn't want to do."

Shikamaru looked at Naruto and Naruto looked a them then Shikamaru clasped his hands together and bowed. "I am in the presence of the master" Naruto bowed also "of course you are, you just never realised it", then Naruto turned to Sakura "Sakura-chan? please get me ramen? it's the only medicine I need besides you owe me for scaring me earlier."He said glaring at her. Sakura sighed, then giggled, she leaned down and ruffled his fur on his head and got up to go get ramen.

* * *

**So there it is, chapter seven.**

**NSW**

.


	8. Hospital Boredom

**Life as a Fox**

**Chapter Eight *2012 Edition***

**NSW**

* * *

The next few days were a haze for Naruto. He could never leave the room, nothing was ever good on T.V, the only good thing to happen to him was when someone came into visit him. Shikamaru came in quite a few times a played shogi with him, it relieved his boredom and so far Naruto was winning with a score of 5-3 games.

But other then those few fleeting games, the only thing he had left was severe hospital boredom. finally when Naruto couldn't handle it no longer he got off of his bed and went to the window. Opening it slowly he stepped out. He kept an eye on the door, even though he knew the hospital rounds weren't for another three hours. Once he would out he stood satisfied breathing in the fresh air. He then limped off to town, trying to find something interesting to do.

* * *

He went to the park, there many kids that came up and played with him until they had to leave. Some people where nice and gave him bites of food from there lunches and picnics, Naruto was happy to be out and enjoying the out-doors. He enjoyed his time there but decided to leave. He walked down the street wondering what to do next.

Then a group of girls caught his eye. All of them were dressed in the nurse outfit's. 'Going to work?' he thought to himself. He hobbled over to them "excuse me ladies, but do you need an escort to the hospital?" The women looked around then seen him "whoa! You must be an Inuzaka dog! I heard someone say that some of them can talk!" One of the nurses exclaimed.

Naruto grinned "that I can, now, a bunch of marvelous ladies like you shouldn't be walking about without someone to protect you, trust me." He said walking closer to them. "I am a finely tuned beautiful noble beast, but you can call me Fluffy, and yes you have my permission to bow before me". He said grinning mischievously. A few of the girls were blushing.

The women laughed, now usually Naruto never acted this way, but out of sheer boredom, sometimes a person will do the craziest things. Naruto walked in the middle of the group while they chatted swooned about him proclaiming how amazing and cool he was. Naruto took in all the comments in stride, and said yes to everything and kept telling them how beautiful they were. Soon they were in a hospital room. Him lounging on the bed while all of them fawned over him and fed him tidbits.

One girl was Mika, she had brown eyes and soft blue hair that was medium in length. "So tell us more Fluffy? Tell us about how you defeated the great bear!" all the girls eagerly nodded Naruto smirked. What could he say? He was a natural story teller, he learned how to do such things from Jeriyah. "So there I was... out in the middle of a blistering snow storm, making my way through drifts as tall as me,. . . when all of a sudden a great bear came roaring out of the snow." He said jumping neat one of the others, scaring her.

He continued "it rose, 14ft tall, and swung at me roaring its heart out!" they gasped "is that why you are in here?" asked one. Naruto scoffed "tch, . . . no, I didn't even get a scratch with that over grown fur ball, no I am in here cause I. . . took on an entire platoon of S-rank traitorous villains, . . . I fought them off to the last stand, I was close to death, but I looked it straight in the eye and said, you can't have me yet! I have a team to save! and I broke deaths grasp and here I am talking to you pretty ladies." He said smiling then a voice said "pretty ladies who need to start their shift".

* * *

The girls gasped and looked up, it was Tsunade and Sakura. Behind them was Hinata, all of them had a bemused look on there face. Naruto gulped 'I will not live to hear the end of this' then he smiled and spoke. "Sorry ladies but alas, you must help the blind, heal the sick, while I Fluffy must be put back in prison of a room, but I will not forget you my beautiful flowers." Then he hopped down and nodded to them. All of them 'awwwed' and hugged him, or kissed his cheek or head as they scampered out past Sakura and Tsunade.

Naruto stepped out, Sakura and Tsunade looked at him, he looked at the ground. Tsunade rolled her eyes "you're another Jeriyah, you know that?" Naruto looked up grinning, "I can be whoever you want me to be" Tsunade swatted at him playfully, he dashed aside. She then started to speak her eyes soft, "Naruto I know, you have a lot of energy and can't wait to get out a enjoy life, but you have to face it, healing takes longer for you now".

Naruto sighed "your right, but I did come back to the hospital, and made a few friends myself" he said grinning "you do know that they will never look at you as a boyfriend or anything" Sakura said Naruto glowered "yes, yes Sakura I know, I was just having some fun" then he muttered "which apparently is impossible in this hell hole." Tsunade looked at him questionably "what was that?" Naruto shied away "nothing" he said, then went off back to his 'prison'.

* * *

A few days later Naruto got his bandages taken off his chest. The wound was healed over quite nicely, a few more days of putting a salve on it and it would be back to normal. Although he would always carry the scars beneath his fur. Life got better for him though, the five nurses he met always came into his room and gave him treats and tidbits. Hanging onto his every word and every story (though sometimes false) with complete adoration.

One day Shikamaru, Neji and Kiba came into see him, they where quite shocked to see him surrounded by girls feeding him and giving his claws a manicure. Shikamaru cleared his throat, "Fluffy, we would come to see how are you doing?" Naruto grinned at them "I am surrounded by my fair maidens and getting hand fed and having my claws taken care of, how are you?"

Shikamaru paused "we have further information on your enemy, regarding his return" Naruto straightened up, then said "alas my darlings you will have to leave me for today, this requires a certain seriousness" then one of the nurses, Mika spoke. "Can you tell us the story of this arch enemy of yours some time?" Naruto was looking off into the distance then he said solemnly. "No, its to sad, a tale of betrayal,. . . loss, and death, not something you would want to hear Mika."

The four other girls and Mika left. Shikamaru closed the door, after Shikamaru told him what was going to be happening Naruto sprang from his bed. His eyes smoldering in anger. "What! A trial?" He exclaimed "They are actually going to ignore all my evidence and have a trial by jury?" Naruto growled and paced the floor on three legs, his tail swishing angrily.

Neji sighed "its true, and its because Tsunade couldn't tell the truth of who really got all the evidence, she can't say you as Fluffy did it, or you as Naruto did it, cause technically you're dead" Naruto sighed, "we're going to need a miracle." He sighed "great! now I need to study up on my Konoha law, guys I have a favor for you to do" Shikamaru stood up "what is it"? Naruto grinned "I need you to come with me, I know place that has a lot of books about Konoha law." Naruto jumped up and opened a window.

Shikamaru looked at him "where are we going"? Naruto grinned "to the fourth Hokage's house, I have broke in there several times, his study has the most awesome things in it." Shikamaru eyes widened "a-are you sure?" Naruto rolled his eyes "come on technically its my house anyway, just not officially, and trust me, I have broken in a hundred times, would I lie?" he said to the three of them. Each looked at each other remembering the stories Naruto had told the girls. Naruto saw their look's "well...to you guys, would I lie?" Shikamaru sighed "fine, but if we get caught we're blaming it on you" Naruto smirked "you have my word", then they traveled off.

* * *

Sakura stepped into Naruto's room. She looked up then proceeded to gape as it looked as though a tornado of papers and scrolls, has swept through the room. Papers where everywhere, Shikamaru, Neji and Kiba where reading some papers while Naruto was on his bed studying intently a scroll un-rolled before him.

Naruto then said "ahah! Law K-2345 article three says, that if any known person is believed to be planning, or housing a person that is believed to be planning a rebellion against the Hokage or any governmental figurehead, that said person/persons will be taken and with-held for three days." He took a deep breath. Then continued "then will be given a trial to which the persons can defend themselves."

But then Naruto opened another book "however in this article- added when my father was Hokage- clearly states, that if there is enough concrete evidence and one valid witness, the trial is supposed to be skipped and proper punishments are to be distributed to the persons guilty of the charge."

Naruto growled and sighed "the council members are skipping their own law's they are supposed to be enforcing" Shikamaru rubbed his temples, "you're right but still" He said holding a finger. "A valid witness, I don't think that means a dog" Naruto looked thoughtfully at him "or does it...?" Naruto said then rushed to another pile. He dug through it some more, he then pulled out a small pamphlet "here the definition for witness is any person, or electrical devise, or proven blood trait ability."

Naruto smirked "once again they are not reading the lines in-between the lines as Jeriyah said" Shikamaru looked at him "what does that mean"? Naruto smirked "looking and seeing the truth in-between the lines? It means they are interpreting the definitions their way, so we are going to interpret the definitions are way as well."

Neji nodded "excellent work Naruto" Naruto puffed his chest out slightly, "thanks" then Shikamaru started "but remember guys we have a lot on the line, Tsunade could get impeached for what she has done." Naruto shook his head "why?" Shikamaru calmly said "because she had us do an unauthorized sweep of the council property, the Anbu root training lutuses and warehouses all belong to the Council."

Naruto nodded "because it was the Council who made the Anbu, not the Hokage..." Naruto sighed "right I forgot about that, however, the Hokage _can_ limit the numbers, and have up to at least half of the people she or he wants within the corps, but the Council controls everything else."

Naruto growled "thus letting them slowly brain wash them to hate the Hokage" Shikamaru nodded "exactly" Naruto then said "if only I could be Hokage, I would change so much of this greed and corruption, what would dad say"? He said out loud but to no one in particular.

But to each of them in the room at that moment, they saw...beyond that proud exterior Naruto had put up. The strong willfulness to never give up and how he could laugh and joke even in this new form. But they all saw past that in that moment, he was hurting inside, he was lost and sad, he seemed as though he couldn't take much more. To them, he suddenly looked vulnerable, as if he was about to blow away with the slightest breeze.

Naruto had always assured them he was watching for them and would keep them safe. But they realized that it was their time to watch for him. Keep him safe. Naruto was trying so hard to be a leader and to keep them strong, that he ended up betraying his own feelings. Bewilderment and fear, he had so much to live up to, and he had gotten it all taken away.

A cold pit grew in Saukras stomach, Sasuke had caused all of this. It was his fault Naruto was now reduced to this. She vowed that if Sasuke ever got any where near Naruto, she would take him out herself. It didn't matter what Naruto thought, Naruto needed to be protected even if he didn't want it.

The same was for Shikamaru Kiba and Neji. They too saw Naruto's pain and agony. His loss of a dream that had carried him so far. Now it could possibly never be. 'The inside turmoil he must be feeling has to be extreme' Shikamaru thought to himself. Shikamaru could only imagine, He clenched his fists at sudden anger that over took him. How _dare_ Sasuke do this!

Shikamaru wanted to go and find Sasuke right now, and knock his lights out. But Shikamaru caught himself, he remembered the way Naruto had stayed calm and composed throughout the entire ordeal. How he kept his head straight and never let his emotions get in the way. 'dammit Naruto you really would be a great Hokage, sure I am smart, but I don't have the will you do, or the ability to inspire people, you really are one of a kind I just wish it hadn't been your dying for me to figure it out'.

* * *

Naruto sighed not knowing of the resolutions his friends had made or the fact he had let them see his inner feelings. He then started to tidy up a bit, Shikamaru, Kiba, Neji and Sakura said good-bye and left.

* * *

Sakura called the boys together in the hall "okay we need a rookie nine meeting, no sensei's, we have to talk about this pronto" Shikamaru and them nodded. Soon everyone was gathered, they chose training ground seven for the meeting. Sakura stood on one of the logs that jutted from the ground, the very same on in fact Naruto was tied to all those years ago. Shikamaru was below her and leaning against the side, everyone waited in silence.

Sakura then spoke "okay we called this meeting to talk, right now I don't think it's the best time to tell our sensei's, I mean Gai and Kakashi are on a mission thankfully, and Kurenei has Asagi to look after." Shikamaru smirked at the mention of his god-child. "We need to figure out a plan now". The circle was silent "Naruto has paid a price no one on this earth has ever had, he has had to witness experiences..no one like him should have witnessed, and are we just going to stand back and let him carry this burden by himself like he plans to?" Ten-ten yelled out "no!" Sakura smirked.

Shikamaru then began "Naruto thinks he has to be the one to protect us, its just the way he is, he always cares for everyone else, even if that means pain onto him, well I think its time we ease some of that pain." Shikamaru spoke looking into each ones eyes, "we are the Rookie nine, we have survived countless attacks on our village, and a fourth great war, sure I must admit if it wasn't for Naruto a lot of us wouldn't be standing here, but, we have gotten smarter and stronger, its time to show him that he can trust us with his life just like we trust him with ours." All of them stood in awe, Shikamaru was good at speeches. All of them cheered "yeah!" agreeing with Shikamaru.

Sakura came in again "no matter what happens in the future, we stick by Naruto and follow his lead, if he comes through a bump in the road we help him over it, we protect him now, not the other way around, cause to me, and I am sure to a lot of you he's already a Hokage in your mind". Shikamaru nodded and so did everyone else. Sakura jumped down "everyone hands together." All of them put their hands together clasping them, Kiba had held onto Hinata's strongly and looked into her eyes. It was then she knew, that this man who stood beside her, was a person she could see spending the rest of her life with. Sakura snapped Hinata from her thoughts, "We are the rookie nine and we stick with each other no matter what." All of them nodded and looked to each other "for Naruto" Hinata said quietly, "for Naruto" the others answered.

* * *

The past few days was very tedious and slightly boring for Shikamaru, Neji , Hinata and Sakura. But to Naruto, he was completely enthralled, he threw himself into the papers and scrolls. Indulging in the words like a fly indulges himself in maple syrup. Sometimes he rushef across the room and grabbed a scroll or paper, or file ignoring the mini earthquake of scrolls and flying papers he would cause.

Sometimes he would forget the others where in the room. Sometimes he would grab what they where reading and start studying it muttering it to himself. All the while his tail was never be at a rest. He wrote down notes while reading, switching from one paper to the next, the others would stop around sunset but Naruto would go until midnight or until Sakura made him sleep.

Naruto's leg was getting stronger and he could put weight on it, but he still had a limp and any sudden sharp jerk made his ribs ache, but Naruto continued his routine until he almost read and memorized every text within that room. Tsunade stopped by often, they sometimes spoke in law terms to each other discussing the best course of action.

She would sometimes bring news of Sasuke "next week Thursday" she finally said one day "what"? Naruto asked "the trial its next week Thursday, we should start compiling our resources and decide the course of action in the court room" Naruto nodded "your lawyer?" he asked "Yamato" she said. Naruto nodded "good, and for them. . .?" Tsunade smirked slightly "Danzo is going to represent him and Sasuke" Naruto smirked both of them knew representing yourself is basically saying 'I am guilty and an idiot'.

But no matter the circumstance they had to be prepared, Tsunade's job was on the line, and possibly the free will of Konoha as well. Soon Yamato joined their study sessions. Endlessly and tirelessly they worked and worked, but soon one day Naruto finally said "we're ready," and it was a good thing, because the next day was the trial.

* * *

**Okay this chapter and the next are slightly boring, the next one is about the trial, and please exuse me if i make a judicial error's I am just going off by what i know from judge judy, CSI and the internets.**

**Also I hope you enjoyed the re-done version, there was some parts while I was reading I was like...'what the f*** was I doing?...was I on crack?'**

**Any ways**

**Ta ta for now**

**NSW**


	9. Trial and confronting death

**Life as a fox**

**Chapter 9 *2012 EDITION***

**NSW**

* * *

The entire room was packed. People were pushed and shoved into such tight places, it was like a can of sardines. Everyone wanted to be there, who wouldn't? The last of the Uchiha and the previous Hokage accused of treason , theft, bribery, premeditated murder...the list went on - almost endless where the crimes against the sovereignty.

The judge residing over the trial was the crown judge himself, the top judge in all of Konoha, he went by the name of Toytami Satoyo. He was a middle-aged man and looked as if he had spent too long in the libraries and catacombs of Konoha; his eyes rimmed by glasses and his skin a dry sullen pallor. His hair was slick and pulled back in a top knot (for his calling before being a judge was once a samurai) but he had given up his swords and now wielded a gavel with the same accuracy and pride.

The jury sat patiently, waiting for the trial to proceed, Tsunade (the plaintiff) was given her lawyer - who happened to be Yamato. (Okay I know the lawyer is not supposed to be involved with you in any way, but, shes the Hokage, she knows everyone) and Sasuke and Danzo had Danzo representing them.

Both parties could call upon only three witnesses. The bailiff then stood and the court went silent. "Trial number 650-A3, Lady Tsunade 5th Hokage vs Lord Danzo Hokage-tempore and Uchiha Sasuke." The court was so silent you would have heard a pin drop - if one was dropped.

Thankfully, one was not, and the silence instead was broken by Satoyo clearing his throat. "Is there an opening statement for either of the parties?" he asked. Tsunade raised her hand. Satoyo nodded to her, she rose and then said: "I wish to say that if my leading skills are truly inadequate enough that some of you find fault enough in them to take my life, I apologize and will gladly step down if that is what you wish".

There was a stir in the room, as hushed whispers rose in the air like the cascades of a thousand chirping crickets. One quick knock of the judge's gavel and the court fell into a hush once more. Then Danzo rose to speak. "I have served many years in Konoha, only looking out for the best of Tsunade's welfare. I have never once thought of any ill will to her - or her heir for the Hokage position, whoever that may be, and if there is some manner of trivial evidence that contradicts what I have said, then let the court realize the possibility that the evidence is falsely presented".

There was another murmur through the court, the judge sighed and hit his gavel once more, he then said: "Very well, both statements have been recorded. The jury would now like to call their first witness to the stand...Uchiha Sasuke., Sasuke stood slowly, leaning on one crutch. He also had a bandage over his left cheek, they noted, as he limped to the bailiff - who presented him the Law of Konoha.

He then said: "Put your right hand on the Sacred scroll of Kami. Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you Kami?" Sasuke nodded and said: "Yes." The bailiff opened the door and let Sasuke in the small place next to the Judge.

Yamato got up, addressing the jury and everyone in the room. "I hold in my hand this bag containing a sake bottle that was tampered with and poisoned; then placed in an area where the Lady Tsunade would find it.

We have sent tests to be done on the contents of the bottle, and they have came back positive to a hybrid plant that we have confiscated within the confines of one of your so-called 'offices'" he then took a breath. "We have reason to believe, that Uchiha Sasuke was the culprit behind the poisoning of this bottle and five others."He turned to Sasuke then. "We also have evidence that states you entered Lady Tsunade's office, and left the poisoned drinks behind - what do you say?"

Sasuke paused momentarily. "I have only entered Lady Tsunade's office to receive news of my missions." Yamato said nothing for a bit, taking the time to stare Sasuke down."Really? Because when a person enters Lady Tsunade's office, there is a secretary who specializes in writing down a person's name and exact time they enter and leave the office, and on Thursday the 12 of September, it is stated that you entered her office at 3:23 P.M, then at 3:26 P.M both Tsunade and Shizune had left, but you did not. In fact you didn't leave until 3:36 P.M... Tell me Sasuke...why were you in her office for an extra ten minutes? To me that seems the perfect amount of time to plant a sake stash and poison it".

* * *

The jury members looked closer at Sasuke, a few eyes caught each other, thinking the exact same thing. Sasuke sat up straighter "Okay yes, I stayed in her office, but only because she never dismissed me. I stayed thinking on whether I should wait for her or not, then I decided to leave." Some of the Jury members nodded to that as well, thinking it was a very reasonable excuse.

Yamato nodded as if agreeing with them. "Yes, yes that is all just and noble waiting for her for so long, but how can you explain your fingerprints on almost every square inch of her office?" Sasuke sighed, "Well I said I waited, I didn't say I waited patiently. I was curious to all that was in her office, so I decided to look around more closely. I put everything back, and didn't try to open things I knew were not meant for me".

Yamato went back to the desk and picked up a photo. "This here is a photograph, of Tsunade's private safe in her office." he said, holding it for everyone to see. Then he showed it to each jury member, and then the judge. "As you can see it was hidden underneath a large rug, and barely noticeable...unless someone is really looking for it. Upon the very edge, we found a partial fingerprint of Uchiha Sasuke. So tell me Sasuke, explain that." he said throwing the photo in front of Sasuke. Danzo rose saying "Objection your honor" but Satoyo hit his gavel. "Objection overruled, please be seated."

Sasuke said nothing for bit then said: "Okay I admit I found the safe, but I never opened it! I just touched it to see if it was real." Yamato then said "How did you find the safe?" Sasuke sighed. "I thought I heard someone coming when I was behind the desk, I then ran but…. I tripped on the rug. it folded over enough for me to see it." Sasuke said quickly.

Yamato took the Photograph, "a very likely story, yet I didn't say which edge the fingerprint was on, the fingerprint was found on the inside edge of the safe, but I believe we have heard enough, you may be seated." Sasuke rose and limped back over to Danzo and sat, Danzo glared at Yamato. Yamato just went back over and sat down next to Lady Tsunade.

Danzo then rose. "I would like to call upon the first witness.." A murmur arose in the room, no one could see anyone sitting behind Lady Tsunade and Yamato, then grew in volume when they saw a white dog limping up to the main stand. The judge knocked his gavel a few times to silence the court. The bailiff looked down, then to the judge.

He was silent for a moment then he said: "Sir, is. . . this even legal?" The judge looked thoughtful for a moment then he responded. "The law does not say whether the witness has to be human or not." The bailiff nodded then looked back down. "Um, state your name." He jumped a little when Naruto said calmly "Fluffy." The jury was in a flurry of whispers and so was everyone else. The bailiff cleared his throat "Fluffy, place your right. . . paw, on the scroll, and repeat after me." the bailiff leaned down a bit so Naruto could reach. "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you Kami?" Naruto nodded saying "I do."

Danzo rose then, he walked over to Naruto "Tell me, Fluffy, you must admit this entire predicament is quite odd." Naruto shook his head "I do not think so, what makes you say that?" Danzo continued. "Well, it's not every day you see a talking dog, I mean, that is what you are...correct?" Naruto shook his head "No, I am not a talking dog." Tsunade sat straighter in her seat, she shoot a warning glance at him. "I am a talking wolf, with a little fox mixed in." he then grinned.

Danzo looked at the court then addressed him "...and where did you come from?" Naruto sighed. "Well,. . . when a mommy and daddy love each other very much..." Danzo held his hand up. "No not that, I mean where did you live before you came here, and why did you come to Konoha in the first place?" Naruto sighed again. "I used to live with a very nice old man, he taught me much, he raised me and took care of me when the world had turned its back on me, then,... he died, killed by strange people I did not know. I wandered lost, and hungry, then I came upon a great,...fight, between many humans, and other unnatural things I do not wish to name."

Naruto paused to look around the room, everyone was listening to his story, completely enthralled with it, "I hid, for I was afraid, I could not understand why humans would do this to each other, why they hate others of their own kind so much." he paused and continued. "Then I found Hinata, she was different - kind, sweet, generous. I could see much of the nice old man in her, she has a good heart, she cares for things, she protects them and keeps them safe. I didn't want her to meet the same end that the old man did." He took a breath and met her eyes in the crowd "So i pledged myself to stay by her side and protect her,. . . her and everyone I see that has a good heart, and one of those people is your pack leader, Tsunade - she is my leader as well, so I have to protect her. That is why I am here, Danzo."

Danzo nodded, "Very well, but tell me - why do you think that Uchiha Sasuke is the one that is trying to hurt your 'pack leader?'" Danzo said in mocking quotations. Naruto looked at Sasuke "Because, my instinct tells me he is dangerous. He is like a snake poised and deadly, yet he is also like a timid mouse as well. I am guessing then he is nothing but a rat: dangerous when cornered, but too much of a coward to stand and fight."

Danzo held up his hand. "Now, now, be easy. So your telling me, and the jury that your reason for suspicion on Uchiha Sasuke is, your...instinct?" Naruto shrugged, then nodded. "In a way." Danzo smirked, "Please elaborate."

Naruto closed his eyes and continued. "Well, it was back at that large battle, when I was searching for a place to hide, that I came across him, him and some other human, about his height. Only his pelt was bright yellow, instead of black, and his eyes were like the sky or the water." Danzo's smile faded. The jurymen and everyone moved closer to listen, then one of them piped up. "Please continue Fluffy." Naruto glanced over at Sasuke, He was pale as a ghost.

Naruto took a deep breath. "I...I watched them, they were different from the others, instead of fighting they sat and talked. I heard very little, for the wind carried it away, but by the posture of the yellow-pelted one, it was as if he was begging your Sasuke for something. It continued on for a bit, and then..." Naruto cut off, he calmed his breathing, 'Come on, hold it together.' he said to himself. He found Hinata's eyes, they held the strength he needed to say the next bit. "They fought then, I don't know why, but they did,.the yellow-pelted one didn't seem to want to attack, but he,..." Naruto said pointing to Sasuke. "...he, did."

Naruto looked around the room, everyone's eyes bored into him, some eyes already were looking at Sasuke with a malice, and distrust. A bead of sweat fell of Danzo's face. "It only took a few more moments, and then with a flash, Sasuke pulled out something long, and shiny, it gleamed like a fang in the sun. Then, faster then I could ever imagine, he attacked the yellow-pelt."

"The yellow-pelt did not react in time, and then I saw the entire shiny thing was in his chest, so far you could no longer see the shine. The yellow-pelt, stood for a moment longer, then he sunk to the ground. They stared at each other for a bit then...the great fox came, It roared in anger. I had never seen such a fox, it must have been the god of my mother's race; I don't know where it came from, but I just know it was powerful." Everyone in the room nodded, a few whispered harshly to each other.

Naruto paused then said: "Yet still the yellow-pelt lived on. I went closer - since the god fox was gone, and still he spoke, how he would never forgive Sasuke. The yellow-pelt sighed, then...well, as we wolves put it, his spirit went into the everlasting hunt in the sky." Then there was a large commotion, as what it looked like Kakashi was being held back by Guy and Iruka.

* * *

Kakashi swore and cursed and kept on trying to weave a jutsu, but Guy and Iruka dragged him out of the courtroom. the judge kept on pounding his gavel trying to get some order. Finally, he he sighed and weaved his hands in a pattern and created that which was every judge's trump card to uncontrollable misbehavior in the court. A large hammer smashed to the ground causing people to jump a few inches from their seats.

He then stood and screamed: "I WILL HAVE ORDER IN THIS COURT, OR ELSE I WILL SEND EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU TO JAIL FOR OBSTRUCTION OF PEACE!" Everyone was silent as he climbed back down, fixed his robe, then turned to Naruto. "Very well, Fluffy. So you say you witnessed this man murder someone in, how you say, cold blood. The 'yellow-pelt', did nothing to antagonize the fight?" Naruto nodded "Yes, he was very docile the entire time, as if he was trying to accomplish some greater task that was worth more then his life."

The judge nodded. "So naturally you have to keep watch over your 'pack', now that you knew he was untrustworthy. The attack on the yellow-pelt...well, by the way, it's not a pelt: it's hair, we also call yellow 'blonde'...and I do believe that this blonde's name was Naruto." Naruto nodded, "Yes...this...Naruto human, Hinata sometimes mentions him." The judge nodded again. "Yes anyway, back to my point. Danzo you may be seated, I will further the investigation." Danzo went and sat down, hateful eyes watched his every step.

The Judge turned to Naruto. "The attack on this Naruto took place during war - which law stipulates is justified because during that time, Uchiha Sasuke was considered an enemy. However, if he has attacked someone in Konoha now that he is reinstated as a Ninja,...then that is a different case altogether." He looked at Naruto, who nodded, then spoke. "Yes, he has attacked someone, I also have witnessed it."

The court was a hush. "He attempted to attack Tsunade, while she slept." Naruto looked to the judge to see if he could continue, the judge nodded. "Well, I was out on the prowl one night, not too long ago actually, wandering the streets looking for something good to eat in the metal bins you humans have...when I smelled Sasuke. I wanted to see what he was doing because my instinct told me something bad was going to happen, so I followed him. He crept into Tsunade's den, I watched from a window to see what he was doing, for I am not a human and I maybe could have been over reacting and this is a natural occurrence."

Naruto looked around once more "He then was holding a pillow above her, I could easily read from his posture and knew from his scent what he was up to. I howled, hoping to scare him and wake Tsunade, which did both. Then, in fear that Sasuke might find me, I ran back home." The judge nodded. "Tsunade, can you verify this account?" She nodded. "Do you have evidence of this account"?

* * *

Yamato rose and approached the bench, "Yes, my Honor. Here is a strand of hair that Tsunade found in a window that looked to be pried open. We matched Sasuke's DNA to it." The judge looked to the jury, the head jury member nodded, then the judge rose. "The jury will now retire to vote on the verdict. We ask that you remain seated and calm throughout the proceedings, whatever they may be."

The judge then rose, and let Naruto out; who limped over to Tsunade's side. He looked at her, and she at him. "You did good." she whispered and Naruto glanced over at Sasuke. "I hope you're right." After an hour of waiting the jury filed out, and the judge took his place. "We find Uchiha Sasuke, guilty of all crimes."

Then he paused and said: "Now circumstance says that the punishment is death, but, due to the fact you are the last Uchiha, there is another option. You would be placed in maximum security prison for three years, as long as you do the following. One: declare intent of the possibility of rehabilitation, and two: marry the females the Council has picked for you, and show you are able to pass on the Uchiha bloodline."

There was a heavy silence in the room, as Sasuke looked at Danzo then the judge. "I will take the other option, I only did what Danzo said because he said he would kill me. Danzo planned everything, not me. Like he said - I'm not smart enough to think things all the way through, I act too much on emotion." Naruto had to admit Sasuke had an excellent point, Sasuke would never had thought of any of those plots, and Sasuke actually did speak the truth, Danzo did say, in a way, he would kill Sasuke if he didn't join his side.

Still, the fact of the matter was that Sasuke was once again being treated special. Once again Naruto felt slightly betrayed by the village he loved, they would always favor him of course, he was the last Uchiha - the only one who could breed the Sharingan, the most powerful blood-trait in Konoha.

The judge turned to address Danzo. "Danzo: to you, on the other hand, we will show no mercy. Many fingers in past trials have always hinted towards you. You are guilty of all crimes put before you, and you will be given the death sentence. May the Gods have mercy on your soul." Then he swung his gavel down, where it actually splintered in two from the force.

* * *

Danzo was in shock. However, before the jailers could step in to take him into custody, Danzo lunged at Sasuke. "YOU LITTLE RAT! I GIVE YOU MY PROTECTION AND THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY ME?!" Danzo slapped Sasuke across the face. The guard came in, but Danzo surprised everyone. He was able to grab one of the blades they held, and he wrestled with them before overpowering them in his rage.

He turned around and then, spotting Naruto, his eyes went wild as he leaped desperately towards him. Naruto tried to jump away but his bandage got caught on a chair. Naruto was able to dodge the first swing, but the second one was coming down fast...too fast. Tsunade was leaping for her chair and Yamato was flying through the seal marks, but it was not either of them who saved his life.

* * *

Maybe Sauske was just getting back at the blow Danzo had given him, maybe he was just acting on impulse, but the fact of the matter was Sasuke barrel-rolled into Danzo. They grappled on the floor, Sasuke in his weakend state was overpowered, Naruto broke lose of the chair. Here was his chance once more, he could attack and kill Sasuke, or save Sasuke and get Danzo. He glanced quickly up and the words sprang out from the emblem on the wall 'Justice overcomes all.'

Naruto gritted his teeth, and lept, he smacked into Danzo - knocking the blade out of his hand. However, Naruto overshot him, and both he and Danzo were sent flying from the force. Naruto collided out of control against the judge's podium, and, as he hit his back, the wood splintered. Naruto saw fuzziness for a bit but during those few moments he once again, found those pools of obsidian - Sasuke's eyes. For the first time, they were not filled with malice, or hate, or stoic ego, but they instead stared back with thanks, and an emotion he could not describe somewhere between sadness, and guilt.

Naruto could not form words, instead he bowed his head. He was not ready to accept the fact that he had been cheated out of life, but for this moment they had saved each other's lives. But Naruto still held a resentment for him. Danzo was placed under arrest finally, and so was Sasuke - both of them were lead out of the courtroom. Tsunade went over to help him, but Naruto right now didn't want any help. He shrugged it off and limped out; he passed Hinata and the others without a word.

* * *

He traveled to a place he always went when he needed to cool down or just think, and here he sat looking at the sunset over Konoha. He knew the others had followed him, they stayed at a reserved distance and were silent, but he could tell they were worried about him. Finally he sighed and nodded, "Sometimes, fights are not fair. Neither is war, nor death, because in the end life is not fair."

He then turned to them. "I am neither happy nor, really angry about the outcome of today, If Pervy-sage ever did teach me something it was to accept my failures, as well as my wins with the same calm, grace." He then looked over the sunset. "A hundred years from now we will all be dead, and this trial will just be like us - history, it will not effect the coming of the days or the tides of the sea; it will not alter the change of the seasons.

"Like it or not we humans cannot change nature or earth, we are powerless to those forces. Someday far from now, there will be no more Ninjas, or Samurai. No more Uchiha or Uzumaki, Hyuga or Inuzaka, Instead we will all be dead, gone from this world and only remembered in stories."

Naruto turned to them, a tear in his eye, "But, despite all of this, we still each have lives to live, and no matter what happens in them we must learn to bear through it and keep going...'cause sooner or later you will be able to see, or be part of something beautiful and majestic; and that my friends is the real reason why we are on this earth: so we can become someone or something truely great, and that way we can live on forever; and if you keep thinking like this you will never truely die."

Hinata had a tear in her eye. "N-naruto, that was beautiful." Naruto smirked. "Now, Hinata don't think I suddenly got all poetic, I read something like that in a fortune cookie once..." he grinned. "Well, actually, I did think of it here on the spot, but that would be a really good fortune cookie, don't you think?" He then wagged his tail and turned to look at the sunset. "Now see?! Didn't I say it was a beautiful-?" Naruto was cut off as he disappeared over the side of the cliff, you could hear a frightend howl, Sakura screamed and ran to the edge so did everyone else, dreading the worst.

All of them felt like complete idiots, Naruto sat on a little alcove, grinning up at them. "Hah! You fell for it just like old third did - man the look on your face is classic! Now Sakura don't give me that face! What did I just say? You have to learn to look on the brighter side of life!" Naruto hopped up only to be given the worst noogie he could imagine "Oh! Noo-! Agh! Okay! I give!" Naruto jumped from her arms and rubbed his head with a paw. "Thanks a lot." he muttered.

Naruto then looked once more over Konoha when he spotted a place, he had not been to for a very long time. "Hey,. . . you guys doing anything?" Shikamaru shrugged. "Not really, why?" Naruto gulped. "Because, I want to go somewhere, and I am afraid to go myself" Sakura giggled. "Naruto, where on earth could you possibly be scared to go?" Naruto then calmly said "My grave".

There was a stunned silence, then Hinata spoke. "Are you sure?" Naruto nodded "I have to...I have to face it, my fear. It's something I have to do...but I just don't know if I can do it alone." Sakura nodded. "Yeah, we'll go with you - all of us."

* * *

They traveled through the streets, until they came to the main gate for the cemetery. Naruto gulped and stepped on that ground. All around him, he knew, deep down there were bodies buried, the souls in them were lucky; they were able to leave earth and go to heaven, but not him. No, he was cursed.

He paused, a cold sweat breaking out. "No...can't...back out, must keep going." He opened his eyes and shakily kept on walking, to him it was like walking through a boggy swamp, or up a mountain. The weight of fear and emotions that ran through him weighed him down and slowed him; it was only when he looked to see his friends giving him comfort was he able to keep going.

Finally he found the right row, all newly-dug and fresh graves; he knew he would be towards the end as it it was alphabetically aligned, Naruto walked - his mouth dry. He panted for air. His entire body shook with fear, and he whimpered when he could see the end of the line. His was five from the end, only two more graves to pass. Naruto slowed to a halt, only one more away.

Then he took one step, and another - finally, he was in front of it. He looked to the ground before looking up, his eyes traveled slowly as they finally read the words: 'Uzumaki Naruto, the one who kept a dream alive', Naruto doubled over as if someone had punched him in the gut. He gasped as he started to hyperventilate.

His name would always be etched here, the world would always say he was dead. They would mention him less and less, and all but forget him as they moved on to bigger and better things - no use focusing on the past, right? No! It couldn't be! He didn't want to die! He never wanted to die! Why was he buried while he was still alive?! The inside turmoil was too much.

"No...I didn't want to...die. I am cowardly,... I was...afraid...so very afraid...I was so cold...and numb... I couldn't do a thing,...no matter how much I wanted to live...no matter how much I willed myself to breathe...my heart to beat... my limbs to move...no matter how many times I remembered my dream...I still...died".

He collapsed, and buried his head in his paws. "Why, must they mock me? No matter how much I tell myself that I am lucky for a chance at life, I still must be reminded that I once had a better one, a life with a future. Not just a life filled with people treating me like a pet, and thinking I am just some stupid mutt. I am more the that, I am Uzumaki Naruto. At least...I think I am...Am I? Or ...was I?"

Hinata leaned down, "It doesn't matter what you look like on the outside Naruto, you will always be you no matter what you look like." Naruto looked up to her, "But, what of,. . . my dream?" Hinata sighed. You never know, someday Konoha will look to you for guidance. I mean, we all look to you for that right now. Your leadership skills should spread to others, and everyone will see you in the light we always have."

Naruto glanced at her, then nodded; still shaking but breathing regular. "...and don't worry, we won't treat you like a pet." Naruto nodded. "Well, its okay sometimes - I like being pampered. It's just...I do still think of myself as a human sometimes." Hinata nodded,. "I understand, but you do have to face it. You're like this, so embrace what life gave you and look on the bright side of it." Naruto smirked, "I see I have rubbed off on you, that is good." Hinata grinned. "Well - of course! You saved me from myself. No one will ever be quite like you Naruto!"

Hinata said this loudly and happily, then from out of the blue a stricken voice said: "Did..you just call him Naruto?" They all turned to see Kakashi standing, dumbstruck, so was Guy. No one said a word. Naruto rose, a new fear welled in his chest. Kakashi's eyes looked haunted and confused, like little was keeping him here. He gulped. "You heard correct...Kakashi-sensei."

Naruto only said that, and Kakashi thudded to his knees. "Guy, please tell me I am drunk and hallucinating, because that dog...just said it was Naruto." Guy looked at him. "Kakashi,...you're not drunk." Naruto stepped forward. "I...kept it a secret. I wanted you to deal with it, and I tried to help you when I could, but I had to make sure not to give too much away.

It hurt to see you Kakashi, my teacher, the one who taught me to stay strong and to never be ruled by emotions lest you become...helpless." He paused..."but I had to stick with my revenge. I wanted to protect you all. it was complicated, and hurtful - to all of yo -, lying like that; but I had to for the better of Konoha, I am sorry Kakashi, I know I hurt you the most, but please believe me. I am Naruto. You did not lose me, you still have much in this world."

Kakashi said not a word, then he reached out and laid a soft hand on Naruto's head; then ruffled the hair. Naruto growled and brought his head away. "Would you stop doing that?! You weird perv!" Kakashi then made a noise that turned out to be a laugh, a loud happy one. "It IS you! Only Naruto would have that reaction!" He then quickly brought Naruto into a hug, a tight one in which Naruto could not breathe.

"Naruto I am never letting you go ever again!" Kakashi said "I have lost too many comrades, never do this to me!" Naruto whined "Got it, lesson learned,. . . can't breath,. . . please let me go-!" Kakashi dropped him. "Thank-you, now you know what you could do for me Kakashi?" Naruto asked. "What"? he answered. "You can treat me to some Ramen, its been a while."

Naruto then trotted away, tail wagging. Kakashi was stood watching for a moment, then he shrugged and rubbed his head. "I guess he's the same after all." Then all of them followed him to Icharuka Ramens. Afterwards, Naruto glanced at the moon, then he thought 'So, three more years, eh, Sasuke?.'

* * *

**There you have it.**

**NSW**


	10. New Hokage, New job

**Life as a Fox  
**

**Chapter 10 *2012 EDITION***

**NSW**

* * *

**Six Months later**

Naruto sat proudly as he watched his Sensei Kakashi take the stage fully garbed in the Hokage uniform. Tsunade sat in a chair behind Kakashi, smiling happily and Naruto even detected a little moisture in her eyes. Kakashi was hailed with applause and cheers; even a few wolf whistles from old friends and comrades of his.

Kakashi did the usual speech all Hokages had to give, and then the usual proceedings followed afterward. Soon it was over and done with; and all of them got to go up to Kakashi in private to congratulate him. There was a silence as Kakashi looked down at him. "Naruto...you should have been the one who replaced Tsunade, not me." Naruto rolled his eyes. "Come on Kakashi, some of them are still against me going on solo missions by myself, not to mention all the scrutiny I am getting for applying to-" he stopped himself. "Ah...never mind."

Hinata looked at him. "What is it? What did you apply to?" Naruto looked everywhere instead of her eyes. "Well you knw how they changed the Anbu...so now they're an elite ninja rank, like - the best of the best, and they have good pay..."(Note in this fanfic Anbu before they were thought to be a shady group.) Naruto said hinting to them.

Then he continued on, confessing the small secret he had kept since he was a kid "...and I always told myself even when I was human, that if I didn't make Hokage I would make Anbu, and not just any Anbu the Anbu General, top leader of all Anbu. In some cases he even out ranks the Hokage!" He said excitedly.

Hinata sighed and Shikamaru said. "Oof, Naruto stop it with the tail." Naruto stopped wagging his tail, he didn't even know he had started wagging. Kakashi looked at him. "You really have thought things out did you, even when you were a human."

Naruto grinned. "Of course, what did you guys think? I only thought of Ramen and rescuing…." He trailed off there, Then he sighed and looked away. "Well, if you really thought I did think of only that, you were wrong. I was always thinking of how my life would be."

He looked back up and smiled softly. "But come on its time to be happy. You're the Hokage! Aren't you going to be happy? Oh and by the way, you're going to have to be on time now Kakashi" Kakashi sighed. "I know." He said disdainfully, as if he was dreading it.

Naruto laughed. "Let's celebrate, and before you even say it, I am not thinking of Ichiruka ramen. I have a more...elegant place in mind." He then lead them to a place called the 'Howling Wolf'. All of them looked at him "Are you kidding me?" Naruto shrugged. "What?! Okay look, they're a five star restaurant and club, and grill together in one; and...they allow pets." Naruto grinned and started to smooth his ever unruly wolf fur.

Hinata sighed. "Naruto, you're not going to get it like that." So she bent down, and started to comb him with the comb she always carried. "Now let me fix your Hitai-ate." She straightened it, "What do you think?" he said, prancing around like a show dog. "Do I look good or do I look great?" Kiba laughed. "Oh yeah, the poodles will be all over you."

Naruto's high trot he had going fell apart. "What?! P-poodles?! What are you...? Why would you...?! ...Kiba you are weird! Then he proceeded to growl at all of them who were laughing so hard - even Hinata was hiding her chuckling as she blushed red.

Naruto sighed and sat down. "I am going to chew all your shoes when I get home." Naruto muttered under his breath, Kiba then said "Do that and I will have Hana fix you." Naruto yelped and tucked his tail in-between his legs. "Y-you,…wouldn't. . .dare…would you? Hinata! Would he!?" Hinata sighed and glared at Kiba, hitting him in the arm. "No he wouldn't right Kiba?" Kiba looked away and said. "Yeah, I won't fix you, or have Hana do it either." Hinata nodded. "Very well, now lets go eat!"

They got a few tables together and all of them sat down to eat, Sakura sat next to Hinata and Kiba, and on the other side of the table sat Chouji, Shikamaru, and Ino, Guy, Lee, Neji and Ten-Ten sat next to Kakashi and Naruto sat next to the table.

Of course every child in the restaurant fell in love with him and came over to pet him or give him treats. Sakura and Hinata watched what he ate like hawks, trying to monitor his health had proven to be their number one priority since he had revealed himself.

Sakura's voice once again cut through the air. "Fluffy! No! You can't have that!" Naruto regrettably relinquished the chocolate candy once more, He laid down and sighed. the waitress came and took everyone's order but stopped to coddle Naruto and give him a few dog treats. He took them at once, but when she was away spat them out. "I hate beggin strips"(the dog treat kind) he said. Hinata chuckled at this.

Half-way through the other's meal Naruto was already done with his boneless chicken. A child came by and gave him a rib; Naruto couldn't help but gulf it down. That proved to be bad decision, it got stuck at an angle where he could still breathe but it felt as though it was trying to rip through his throat. He coughed several times, the pain bringing tears to his eyes. The freighted child ran away to his parents. Naruto hacked and hacked until Hinata noticed him and freaked "Fluffy! What's wrong?!" Naruto finally choked out. "Bone…stuck."

Kiba was at his side in an instant - he had, on many occasions, dislodged bones from Akamaru's throat. He slanted Naruto's head, and told Hinata to hold it at that angle; then Kiba hit Naruto. This caused the bone to loosen, and it shot out of his mouth to land on the floor. Naruto was relieved and collapsed in a daze.

Hinata scrunched her nose at the bone that looked so very gross on the floor, "Are...you okay?" She asked softly, as Naruto coughed a couple more times because of the irritation in his throat, "Yes" he croaked. Soon two people, a man and women, walked over with the teary-eyed child. "We are so sorry, is he okay?" Hinata nodded. "Just a little dazed but he will be okay." The child sniffed. "I didn't mean to hurt him." Hinata smiled at the little boy. "No its okay, just next time ask first if it's okay to feed him stuff."

Naruto rose and butted his head playfully into the child's side; he then bent his front over and wagged his tail meaning he wanted to play, He ran around the now-laughing child. The boy was small compared to Naruto, but the boy was not afraid of him. He hugged Naruto as Naruto licked his face, and panted like a dog would.

The couple apologized once more and thanked them for being so calm, but before they left the boy asked his parents for a dog, "I don't know." the mother said but the boys begged. "Please, oh please! I want one like Fluffy, big and Fluffy!" The father then asked Hinata "Um, this is probably a little inconsiderate of us but...does this dog by any chance have any offspring?"

Naruto broke into another fit of coughs and Hinata blinked a couple times. "No, he's not...of age yet." Naruto stood shocked at what was going on. "Well are you going to breed him by any chance?" the women asked, Kiba then butted in. "well you see he's a special dog, and Inuzaka were still training him, and we only pick certain ones to breed. The pups this one might have would probably not for commercial sale use. You should try Hana's animal rescue - they have many good dogs and pets for good homes, try there" Kiba gave him his sister's business card, they thanked them once more and continued on.

Naruto slunk under the table to hide from embarrassment, and to hide from Sakura - he didn't want to hear it. Finally, as all of them sat down to finish their meals, Naruto muttered just loud enough so they could hear. "They wanted to buy...one of my kids?" He said questioningly, Kiba dropped his chopsticks, and then put his head down. Giggles could be heard. Hinata was turning red and Neji was covering his face with a hand, Kakashi was chuckling and Sakura was trying, and failing, to drink while snorting.

The Ino snorted, sounding very much like an excited pig, and all of them burst out in laughter,. Not just any laughter, I mean tears-in-the-eyes, 'oh god my ribs heart', suffocating laughter. Needless to say Naruto was quite embarrassed during the walk home.

* * *

Three days later Naruto was summoned to the Hokage's office. Naruto went in thinking he had a mission but only to find that instead of Kakashi in the office it was a man in Anbu Robes. He wore a mask that had two curves representing tusks with angry red lines around the eyes, and he stood with his hands held behind his back.

There was a silence then the man spoke in a deep voice, but with a hint of age in it. "Fluffy?" the man questioned, and Naruto nodded. "I am Mammoth. I have reviewed your request to be admitted into Anbu Corps Training, at first I was hesitant so I looked up your known stats. They were...quite impressive, there are very few wild demons left." he said, with no emotion in his voice.

Naruto nodded, and he continued. "But I have questioned many trusted sources of mine and each one say the same thing, that you are a hard-working, strong, sharp, talented being, and above all the most loyal and trustworthy. Many trust their lives with you and these are the makings we are looking for. So, it is with my authority that I and the entire Anbu corps accept you as one of the few acceptable candidates."

Naruto's chest swelled with pride, he couldn't believe it - he had been accepted. He, a wolf demon known only as 'Fluffy', had been accepted in! The man continued. "But don't think you're Anbu yet, you are merely a trainee, one of thirty to be exact. You have yet to pass training camp, each and test we give you, and then the final exam before you can enter the ranks and earn you mask." Mammoth said pointing to his face.

Naruto nodded. Mammoth stepped forward and placed a scroll, a grey cloak, arm guards, and a vest on the desk. "These are your trainee clothes, get them fitted and study this here". he said pointing to the scroll, "...and say good-bye to whoever you have to, 'cause tomorrow at 6:00 sharp you and the others will be in this office dressed and ready to go. You have no need to pack anything, but if you wish to take a picture or a small memento of home you may do so."

Naruto nodded and took his things, he ran all the way home. He and Hinata quickly fitted the clothing until the cloak and guards fit perfectly to work on his body. Then he opened the scroll.

It stated the following: "_Welcome Newest Anbu recruit. You have been given this scroll of Information to make your training easier - to understand, that is. Anbu boot camp will last exactly three months and during that time you will reside in the barracks. You will have no contact with anyone outside the Anbu. You will be fed three times a day. There are no fees. There will be three final written exams and three final field exams, then one Final test overal. Be prepared - this is hard grisly work. You are training to become the village's elite - the best of the best. We will throw everything at you and, if you die (which several have), we will just move unto the next recruit. There will be no weaklings among us. If you have changed your mind do not appear at the given meeting point._

_These are the Fields of study you will be training and tested on: ninjutsu, genjutsu, taijutsu, long range heavy weaponry, short range heavy weaponry, long rage artillery, short range artillery, geography, humanities, political science, leadership skills, sealing techniques, tracking, teleportation, traps, defensive maneuvers, offensive maneuvers, elemental affinities, jutsu creation, advanced human anatomy study, spying, assignation training methods, camouflage, poisons and antidotes, combat skills, documentation forgery, projectile weapons and battle strategies, and explosives."_

The list seemed endless to Naruto but he gritted his teeth and said to himself "I will not back down, I can do this." Then he cleaned up his room, went out to say farewell to his many friends, and finally laid down both dreading and anticipating the next day.

* * *

Naruto woke up at 5:30, he put everything on and rushed to the tower. He was one of the first few gathered, but no one paid any attention - everyone was too caught up on nerves to do anything. They fidgeted nervously, some like Naruto remained calm and kept their nerves together others did not. There was a few females in the room, but other than that it was all men and one demon-wolf.

Suddenly Mammoth appeared with four other Anbu. They separated those gathered into four groups, then they had them follow them to the training barracks. They were the only trainees. They got themselves situated in their rooms, then the rules were spoken and they were off to their first lesson. The Anbu followed them around for the first week showing them were to go, then left them to fend for themselves. Naruto felt good about himself - he had proven he belonged, few bothered him about him being there; but there was still some at the feeding times that did.

Mammoth read the transcripts of the first of the written exams. It was for s sealing technique, a subject he himself still struggled with, and apparently everyone else did except for three. At the top of that here was Fluffy, with a perfect score, then came the exams for each of the weaponry exams combined into one.

Fluffy was the top but one of the top ten, he always was top ten. In any exam, he amazed everyone by how he was able to make anything adapted to him as though he was a human it was an eerily resemblance, but Mammoth took it as a challenge he wanted to see how far he could bend him till he broke, he wanted to see what type of character this Fluffy was, but unknown to Mammoth, he would find that Naruto would bend but never break.

**Three months later**

* * *

Mammoth was the 6th Head Anbu general, and one of the duties of head general was to access the newest recruits in the training corps; and one of those new recruits had much interest going about. His name was Fluffy, and he was believed to be a wolf-fox demon. He was skilled and intelligent - his written exams had proved that. Mammoth himself on the inside was rooting for him and was impressed with how he seemed to show more dedication and heart then all the recruits put together.

All 30 applicants stood in three straight rows of ten, (cause 3*10=30 XD) as Mammoth entered the room. He paced the ground in front of them, Fluffy was in the first row, his shoulders were back, his head high and his ears foreword. Hiis eyes never moved, he looked like a proud statue of a wolf, Mammoth smirked beneath his mask before removing it.

* * *

**Sorry the chapie took so long there was inside turmoil between me and my Beta's about how to upload, when, and which parts to upload. I hope to not keep you waiting as long next time.**

**NSW**


	11. Anbu GeneralMammoth!

**Chapter 11**

**Life as a Fox**

**NSW**

* * *

No one in the room said a thing, but he could see many backs and bodies jerk with sudden surprise, a few even turned their heads to the side trying looking at each other, but not Fluffy, he remained apathetic.

But still Naruto couldn't help but study the face before him, Mammoth had deep memorizing eyes, it was as if you were looking into the eyes of a great beast, his face had three scars running across, his Brown hair with a few streaks of grey was plaited back. his face showed his character, strong, proud, willing to fight, a true leader, but his face also betrayed him it shown the beginnings of older age, yet still the way his eyes studied them made even Naruto lower his gaze slightly.

Mammoth enjoyed the tight tension in the room, to him men standing at attention with their backs aching and there body physically pushed to its limits while the mind was constantly trying to maintain the composure was a very entertaining thing to watch, but today was not the day for entertainment.

He cleared his throat, "Today is the day we weed out the strong from the weak, you will be separated into groups of five, each group member will have a leader randomly picked from it, if you are the leader you have absolute control, you decide what the group will do, this will let us see who has good abilities to lead, and who has good abilities to follow".

He turned and walked over to three tables set up, "each group will be given the usual rations, no more and no less, each group will have the same number of projectile weapons, each group is equal, the only thing that groups will be different on is, each individual group member's ability, for that is something we cannot control".( I added this part in case they have a blood trait I want to add in randomly on the spot.)

He turned back to the waiting men and few women, "the test is simple, you each will be placed unconscious and we shell drop you off in a hostile environment, with these fake intelligence papers, each dossier is unique to each group, and will be marked as so, that way if any of you try to steal another groups file and pass it off as your own we'll know".

He swept his gaze across all standing there levering them with it, "this test is made to reenact a mission in all possibilities, you will be in an environment not known to you, living and working with people you may not necessary like, and it shows how much dedication, hard work, and blood you will be putting into each mission, and how to cope or keep going of you lose a member of your team because I will confirm the rumors , several have died on this test." he paused then letting it sink in, then he grinned coldly, in the back he seen a man twinge.

He stepped forward, "where you shell be placed is several small villages, more like wandering tribes of assassins and bandits more than anything, and lets just say they don't take kindly to strangers, in fact you could even say that a little birdie gave them a heads up that some unknown ninja are going to be in their territory, stirring up trouble, you could even say that this birdie may have said it would be willing to pay a large sum of money for each head." He smiled again, "but that's just the gossip talking, then again birdies never lie…"

He left them with that, and then turned to Mouse, his office assistant, "you know what to do", then he left the room, but not before looking back at a certain four-legged trainee, who also was glancing over at him with the corner of his eye.

Naruto was put in a group of trainee's who he knew very little about, two of them he had weapons training with so was on good terms with, one (who was made their leader) he actually shared a bunk house with, there group also had one of the six female trainee's as well, they all studied each other for a moment, the large man named Ichino, stared down his nose at him, Naruto knew he would have problems with this one, Goza was next he was neutral, neither resentful not supporting of Naruto on his team.

Then there was the women, Ainu, she looked at him with interest and a small fraction of amusement, then last but not least their fearless leader, was Toyi, his eyes where wide as they quickly glanced at each person, Naruto sighed on the inside, then said "well from what I know when you are going to work with new people you start out with introductions, I will start"

Naruto cleared his throat, "My name is Fluffy, my Human companion is Hinata Hyuuga, I specialize in tracking, Information gathering, fighting both offensive and defensive, and sealing teqnigue, my favorite food is Tacos and Ramen, and my hobbies include playing fetch, watching T.V and playing shogi".

They stared at him for a bit, He then sighed "Also I would like to mention, that just because I am a demon does not mean I have special powers, I can only talk and have use of my own Chakra system which is far greater in quantity then any of yours", He stated matter of fact like.

Then Ainu spoke, she had long black hair put up in a bun with senbon holding it, her mask was hiding her face, "I am Toroyomi Ainu, I specialize in Genjutsu, poison, and camouflage, I am an offensive type, my favorite food is Rice balls, my hobbies include dancing and shopping".

Toyi then started his voice was slightly shaky, "My name is Minako Toyi, I specialize in hand to hand combat and trap detection, I prefer defensive fighting, my favorite food is pizza, and red beans, my hobbies are going to movies and drinking with my buddies".

Goza snorted then said gruff but in a kind voice "My name is Zurachi Goza, I specialize in documentation forgery, battle strategy and long range projectile weapons" he said then added "I prefer to be attacking then sitting idle, I like all food" he said patting his rather large abdomen, "and my hobbies include bird watching and going out with interesting women" he said scooting closer to Ainu and putting an arm around her, she looked at him then grabbed his arm and stiffly pushed it off of her shoulders.

The in a rough almost bored voice Ichino said "I am Yakushu Ichino, I specialize in Taijutsu, explosives, and geography, I Attack first always" he said glancing down at Naruto in a challenge, "I like meat, any meat will do, as long as it is a animal and is cooked I will eat it" he said a hint of amusement in his voice aimed at Naruto, Naruto said nothing.

He crossed his arms then said "my hobbies include weight lifting and grilling" he said then stopped looking at Naruto there was a tense tension in the circle as each one beside Naruto and Ichino looked at them both then to each other.

Naruto took a breath then said with a bored expression "that is very interesting Ichino, I too like to eat meat, in fact I like it so much that my kind will hunt in packs and take down animals, then we will eat the meat right there without cooking it, it's better that way all bloody and juicy" He said grinning showing of his canines.

Ainu made a small chuckling sound and Goza snorted a few times, but Toyi glanced hurriedly between him and Ichino, Ichino said nothing then straightened himself grumpily, "whatever" he said, there was a silence over them for a few moments, then Naruto sighed and said "look I know you don't like me, or you don't like the idea of me, whatever I get it, but the fact is for either of us to make it to Anbu, in fact any of us we have to work as a team and trust each other, like it or not we are all each other has to survive this."

Ainu nodded then said "Fluffy is right Ichino, if you really want to be the Anbu your always bragging you are going to be, you're going to have to learn to work together" Ichino muttered under his breath for a few moments then said "I get it, but I thought Anbu were loan rouges, not depending on any one, no feelings just hard core killers".

Naruto shook his head, "you will find those type of people in prisons" Ichino snapped at him "look just because I am teamed up with you and have to work with you, you stupid mutt doesn't make it all right to talk to me like you're a human!" Ichino growled at him, a few groups were looking there way, Naruto could also see tension in a few other groups as well.

Naruto said shook his head and remained silent, a few minutes passed by of them saying nothing then Toyi said "Lets go get our supplies and get this over with", Ichino stalked away shouldering past Toyi, the rest followed Ainu whispered to Naruto "Its okay I trust you, and so does Goza" Goza nodded and the three of them together trailed after Ichino and Toyi.

Once they had gotten the supplies they needed, each group was lead separately into rooms, when Naruto turned to ask what was happening he saw a flicker of movement, then a sharp pain in his neck then he saw blackness as he fell into unconsciousness.

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**Origianlly chapter 10 and 11 were together but as I stated in the afterwords in chapter 10 there was inside turmoil in the group so this is how it is now.**

**btw**

**my Beta is Complete Randomness**


	12. The test begins!

**life as a Fox.**

**Chapter 11**

**By,**

**NSW**

**proofread by best friends and Beta's Katy Cruel, and Deadly Randomness.**

**I hope you enjoy, I am sorry for taking so long, but two good friends of mind decided to take it upon themselves to teach me Grammer, they even went so far as to give me flash cards and quiz me(LOL). Now they will not let me upload any chapter without them proofreading it and correcting it. So it takes quite a long time for me to add new Chapters, but the plus side, they are 98% grammaticly correct.**

**btw sorry for the last chapter mix up I promise it will not happan again.**

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Naruto was drifting between consciousness and unconsciousness, he both wanted and didn't want to wake up, Naruto realized it was nice to just stay here in the black. No more pain, no more worries, no responsibilities, and no more memories, it was a great but terrible beauty; it reminded him of being dead.

The moment he thought that, memories suddenly opened and poured through. He had to wake up, being like this was nice, but nothing could beat being alive. Even if it a world with pain and suffering, one would be able to have choices and create happiness when they were alive, and that he believed was the greatest feeling to have.

Naruto snapped his eyes open. He was on his side surrounded tall grass. He sat up and looked around testing the air, searching for any danger. There was none, instead he found his comrades on their sides in the grass around him. He decided to leave them like they were for a bit then wandered trying to figure out where he was.

He looked out, they were in a hilly almost steppe like country. Instantly Naruto thought of his geography class, he scented the air, finding it had a mineral like scent to it. This meant that there was red clay soil nearby, which meant there were mines. This lead to the conclusion that they where probably somewhere within the Land of Iron.

The Land of Iron was a land far Northwest in the Earth Country. The people here where rugged and dangerous, generations of working mines had bred them into a sturdy, strong, earth smart people. They hated anyone on their lands because they are believed people were stealing their precious minerals. So they started to form bands during the autumn and winter months when the mines where closed.

Naruto sighed this was going to be one long test. He heard the sounds of people waking up so he turned and looked. Ainu sat up holding her head; she looked around and spotted him. She wobbled to her feet, she had no trainee mask. Naruto looked none of them did. He noticed then that her hair was a blonde and was wrapped in a low pony tail.

Hey eyes were a deep green, she had an angular face, Naruto thought to himself that if he were a human he would go out with her, then he remembered he was not human and she was at least 30. She walked over to him "Well what is the news"? He looked back out over the land "we are somewhere in the Land of Iron in Earth country" she blinked and looked at him "how can you tell"? He looked at her "did you know a wolfs nose can smell 100 times better then a humans?"

When the rest had finally woken up, they all sat in a circle, Goza drew a small map in the dirt with a stick, "so we are presumly here" he said pointing to one large blob, "Konoha is here" he said pointing to the other large blob, "But no matter what we have to head Southeast" he said affirmatively, then he looked up to the darkening sky, "I can't tell our position until the stars appear".

There was a silence, and then Toyi finally said "We should find a place to camp and stay there tonight and head out in the morning" Naruto nodded "Over in those trees would be an excellent place for cover." Ichino looked at him "but what if we are found? Is it such a good idea to be limiting our environment to fight in such a tight place?" Naruto shook his head, "even if the locals are on the hunt for us, they would not enter the woods at night, we have superstitions legends to thank for that".

Ainu looked at him "What do you mean?" Naruto sighed "in the Study hour we had, or the days off, I was in the library reading up on legends and superstition of many different lands in case I ever needed to use the information to save myself "Naruto paused "well one of the books I ran across was for the Land of Iron, they have been taught since birth to never enter the woods at night or else strange creatures will grab them and drag them to hell". And as if to heighten the suspense a sharp screech sounding like a women screaming pierced the air, Toyi jumped slightly and Goza looked up, Naruto flicked an ear in annoyance "that was just a Screech owl, name fits don't it?" he said.

Ainu humphed, "I would say so, well lets just hope these people haven't faced their so called fears, I say we go into the forest, besides trees are more comfy to sleep in then the ground, and has better protection."

So they all went into the woods, Naruto removed his grey cloak and Hitai-ate, Ainu looked at him "what are you doing"? He looked over at them "night is when the forest awakes, some animals are more perceptive to human whereabouts then others, I will return when I am satisfied with information."

Naruto first rolled around in a moss pile and dirt covering up human scent then went on the prowls, he sniffed trying to find maybe a mouse or small rodent, he heard one, he stopped and tensed listening to the small sound as the mouse buried its way beneath the earth, he stepped lightly before finally pouncing on his prey he caught the small creature it screamed in fear, he quickly silenced it, by covering its small tiny mouth "shh!I am not going to eat you!" he whispered harshly, the mouse looked at him in both fear and confusion but was silenced.

He attentively removed pressure and set the mouse down but made sure to keep a paw on its tail, "can you tell me if any humans have been around? Or more importantly small groups of them dressed in black? With . . ." he paused as he tried to think of a word the mouse would understand "shells on their face?"

The mouse looked at him for a moment before saying "no and yes, I see two legs with black but no shells, then I see two-legs on the hunt, big herd of two-legs, angry, blood thirsty but not hungry, they bad news". Naruto smirked he caught the right little mouse "can you tell me how big of herd?" the mouse paused "hey, wait! What do I get out of this!" the mouse yelled at him, Naruto blinked "oh, I'm sorry I didn't realize you wanted to be eaten instead of talked too, well my mistake" he said lifting the mouse up "hey wait! Wait WAIT!" the mouse yelled.

Naruto stopped "yes?" the mouse swallowed as he caught his breath, "okay, just a few days ago about maybe three times my front paws were traveling together, okay I hid in my hole all right that's all I know, please let me go! Don't eat me! My mate is pregnant! I...I have almost a herd of micelings to feed!" he exclaimed almost crying now, Naruto sighed and dropped him, "thank-you!" the mouse yelled as he scurried into hid little hole.

Naruto continued on and was able to persuade an Owl to talk to him about the location of these humans, the owl was smarter and confirmed what the mouse said and the owl said they were traveling towards the large river gorge, Naruto thanked him and walked back to camp, he curled inside the hollow of a tree and slept.

The next day at the crack of dawn everyone was up, Naruto gave out the information he had got, Toyi turned to Goza, "are we to be headed in that direction?" Goza sighed and nodded "yes, that river is a marker, one of the only ones that leads southeast."

Toyi said nothing for a bit then he finally said, "if we lie low we will not be found out we should follow the gorge as long as possible", Naruto nodded it seemed like a wise decision Ainu stood, "we should get moving then, the sooner we get to Konoha the sooner we are Anbu", Naruto nodded and followed her lead, instead of putting his stuff back on he rolled it into a tight ball and asked Goza if he minded to carry it in his bag, Goza looked at him "sure, its just a little fabric that's all" so the others put on a camouflage jutsu, and headed out.

Naruto traveled in a circle around the group, always on guard looking for any signs of danger, they stopped at mid day for a break, Naruto laid down, Ainu served out three rice balls for each person, Naruto cleaned his pads and ate, and it was silent for the entire meal.

The continued out wanting to conserve their strength they did not use the invisibility Jutsu, for that day they did not run into anything, they stopped for camp, they each had three rice balls and a small cup of cold misu soup.

Naruto slept until a few hours before dawn then went out to see if he could get any information, it came he walked about quietly his ears and eyes alert, when he smelled smoke, he knew it was not from their camp fire, cause theirs had been put out, he followed hesitantly the smell.

It lead him quite a ways up a large hill, he slunk through the tall grass that hid him from the view of what was below him, three fires burned low with several bumps around each one, he spotted a half asleep sentry looking the way opposite of Naruto. He sat there hunched over and counted the number of men, he grimaced there was at least 15 around each fire, which meant they were against nine to 1 odds.

Naruto slunk back away and quietly yet quickly ran back to their camp, he saw Ainu on watch he motioned for her to silently wake everyone up, the cam was at least a mile and a half a way but Naruto did not want to take any chances, besides the other camp would be waking up soon, once all of them were awake he wrote out in the secret Anbu code what he had seen.

Looks of shock and fear crossed some of there faces, as the realization hit them, this was no longer a 'game' any more this was real, they really could die, Toyi had shaking hands, as he reached for the stick and tried to write out the orders, they were to dodge them as best as possible, they were going to slip into the gorge and walk along the thin trail beneath the over hang of rock, hoping that it would provide enough cover and that the enemy wouldn't think to look there.

They moved silently like a pride of Lions quietly yet surprisingly graceful, they infused chakra to their legs and traveled down the gorge wall, near the bottom they landed, kicking up small clouds of dust, then moved in beneath the over hand of wall, Naruto hoped it was stable rock and wouldn't collapse.

They traveled slowly cause they had to scrunch down and maneuver around rocks and tight spaces, they followed Toyi, this time Naruto was in the back, the dry stone and dust caused much irritation to their lungs and throats, so they covered their mouths with damp fabric using their precious water supply up even faster.

Naruto paused as the crevice made a sharp incline, they traveled up ways for a bit then finally evened out about 50 feet from the gorge bottom, sometimes the ledge beneath the overhang was so thin they were forced to walk parallel on the wall until it became thicker or try and painstakingly inch across and grope the wall for hand holds.

They stopped and rested at midday, exhausted, sweaty, and beat, all of them were covered in the red like clay and dust they each had a drink of water and one rice ball because none of them had the energy or the appetite to eat.

Naruto rested his eyes for a moment and found himself later being shaken awake by Ichino, he looked at him and said "wake up" in an emotionless voice, and even Ichino was too tired to be mad at him.

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Boku looked at the single track carefully, it was a few hours old, and lead away from camp, he had came to the top of the hill for a better view of the land, when he noticed a splay in the grass, where it looked as if a creature laid for quite some time, he investigated it further and found a few hairs that belonged to some sort of animal, but Boku had been hunting in this land for ages and knew no animal that had this certain shade of color, a crème almost white color, he followed the slight path a ways until he came upon this track.

It was a wolf track, that was for certain, and judging by the depth of the track it was moving at a pretty good clip to make this track, 'but why would a wolf come that near to fire? Or people for that matter?' but then Boku looked to the woods, and muttered a small prayer, unless it was one of the Vlerwolves, the hunting hounds of the devils, they were said to be the size of any normal wolf, but had the intelligence of a human, could talk and woo fools to come into the woods.

Boku had listened to many a nights of the scary stories, it was said they had strange abilities, they could summon up to a thousand of their brethren in a single howl, they where frightening beast of the night, Boku shook his head 'I am no longer a child, it is just my imagination' but still the thought of going into the woods stirred him on the inside.

He followed the tracks, it was true they lead to the woods, but then he spotted five separate trails leading away from the woods and to the gorge, wolves did not go into the gorge, there was no good pray, and neither did wolves spy on camps, so maybe it was not a wolf but one of those rare summoning creatures he had heard powerful ninja had, anger filled him, powerful ninja who wanted the gold he and his ancestors had worked for.

He brought his fingers to his lips and let out three short quick whistles, he heard the two low answering calls, everyone was now hurrying to him, Boku walked to the edge of the Gorge side, and looked down, they where going on a hunt.

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**Thank-you to all my faithful readers, I hoped you enjoyed this installation.**

**ATTENTION!**

**IF YOU WANT ME TO POST CHAPTER 13 I MUST GET FIFTY REVEIWS!**

**I REPEAT I MUST GET FIFTY! 50!**

**THAT IS ALL.**

**NSW**


	13. The gorge, and a new friend?

**okay this has to be like very confusing for you all so give me some slack I have been very stressed at school with the musical and a sceduale change.**

this goes after the chapter the ends in Boku's POV. this is really chapter 12

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It was the next day, and Naruto was at the back of the pack once again trudging tiredly through the sand and heavy dust. When suddenly he sensed something. He didn't know how he sensed it, it was like an itch that had to be scratched, he just somehow knew, so he turned quickly, and in the distance he could see a very large cloud of dust.

He turned to the others. "hold up a bit, I think I am getting something", he then placed his four feet flat, and balanced his body weight equally, then he closed his eyes and listened, he slowed his heart beat to the beat of the earth he felt beneath him, he in a sense became one with the earth as he let his senses reach far beyond what anyone could possibly imagine.

Then it came to him. He felt the rapid quick beats of many men beating as their loud footfalls caused tremors in the earth he heard their quick breath takes as they loped silently towards the five of them. From what Naruto could decipher they were maybe a mile or two away, but gaining fast.

Naruto opened his eyes splitting his contact and the feeling of being one with the earth, he turned to them "They are coming! They somehow caught on!" everyone looked to Toyi, he choked out "lets try and break away from them".

Ichino scoffed, "Like that's going to help, we haven't covered our tracks at all". Naruto studied the sides of the canyon walls. "We could destroy our tracks entirely and cause a large obstacle to slow them down and hopefully shake them loose"

Ainu looked at him then to the walls he was looking at. "The canyon is made of shale and sandstone. A few paper bombs will easily cause the walls to collapse."

Ichino nodded, "yeah I get where you're going with this, and here Goza give me a hand." Goza nodded eagerly and jumped to the other side of the canyon by using some chakra and began to place paper bombs quickly in the weak faults of the rock.

Toyi nodded to Ichino and Goza. "All right, you guys finish up here, we'll scout ahead." Toyi and Ainu then turned and jumped off the ledge and then up to the canyon wall and began to trot up it. Naruto followed them. When he also had reached the top of the canyon he stood once more and looked in the direction of the enemy, they were a quarter of a mile away now, and gaining fast.

Naruto looked down to see Ichino and Goza, both coming up the wall, but half way up Ichino stopped. Naruto, who knew the enemy was even closer and would undoubtedly be able to see them soon, Naruto stamped his paw in irritation. "What are you doing"? Goza whispered loudly to Ichino.

Ichino walked a little ways down the wall then said, "you guys go on someone has to lead them into the trap, and I know what I am doing", Naruto knew they had no time to argue; he motioned to Goza, who regrettably continued up the wall.

Goza was about to follow Ainu and Toyi into the nearby woods, when Naruto stopped him and looked up to Goza. "I will make sure Ichino makes it out safe, but if we are not back by dusk leave us" Goza nodded and continued.

Naruto shrunk close to the ground and watched Ichino, who made a few clones and then jumped out into the view of the enemy, Ichino and his clones sent a few waves of Shuriken, Senbon, and Kunei at them.

When the enemy returned fire, Ichino threw down hundreds of smoke bombs and stink bombs, reducing the enemies' site and making them cough and sputter for a few seconds, but that was all the time Ichino needed to set off the bombs. They exploded, and rained a storm of rocks and boulders onto the Ninja, most escaped but a few unlucky ones were not able to get away in time. The dust cloud loomed over them for a bit, letting Naruto see absolutely nothing.

A few rocks still fell here and there, and the sun was just beginning to penetrate the obnoxious dust cloud, when Naruto seen Ichino. He was in a small alcove where a large boulder had been dislodged, and Naruto could see he was hurt. Naruto who was staying as close to the ground and moving as fast as he could without causing another avalanche of rocks , or being noticed ran to Ichino.

Ichino swore under his breath. "What are you doing? You should be getting out of here with the others."Naruto rolled his eyes and looked at him, "We wolf demons work like real wolves. We never leave a fellow pack mate to die before his time has come."

Naruto looked out again before turning back to Ichino "slide on my back" he said, assessing the large wound in Ichino's leg. Ichino muttered but did as Naruto said. Naruto staggered slightly beneath the weight, but knew his comrade was hurt and needed him.

Naruto looked out. The dust cloud was still hanging in the air, and the enemy was confused and dazed, Naruto rushed, hoping no one saw or heard them. He dashed up the wall and to the safety and enclosure of the woods, and then paused so Ichino could let himself fall from his back Naruto looked at the wound again, "what happened"? He asked.

At first Ichino said nothing, but under Naruto's unwavering glare he broke down. "A large rock shard clipped my leg when the bombs went off," he grumbled, and then there was a pause as he continued on and said in a voice filled with both some fear and pain. "How bad does it look?"

Naruto glanced down. On the right leg in the outer thigh region, was a rather large rock splinter sticking out of his leg. Blood was dripping from the wound and Ichino looked pale. Naruto sighed. "Hold still and bite on a branch" he said.

Ichino grabbed one and bit. "I have to get this rock out, the sooner the better," Naruto said. He eased his teeth around the projectile, then, without warning, pulled it out as quickly and painlessly as possible, Ichino bit hard into the branch almost snapping it, as his hands clawed the earth as his entire torso rose from the earth stiffening in pain.

Then slowly the pain receded, Ichino fell lax again, and Naruto spat out the rock and buried it quickly, he had no water to clean the wound and neither did Ichino. Naruto looked once more at Ichino's leg and then lowered his body and started to open his jaw to lick it. When Ichino burst out, "What are you doing?" Naruto glared at him.

"Oh sorry did you _want_ the wound to fester and have your leg amputated?" Ichino relaxed disdainfully against the tree trunk.

"Fine" he said Naruto nodded and began to lick the muddy blood and dirt and grime from Ichino's leg, when it was clean as he could get it, Naruto ripped a bit of cloth from Ichino's pant leg and gave it to Ichino to tie his wound as best he could. I would have to do until he could get Ichino to Goza and the others who had opposable thumbs and a first aid kit.

Ichino got up and put some weight on his right leg. But it pained him, so Ichino had to lean on Naruto again, as they walked through the woods. Finally Ichino spoke "thanks" he muttered.

Naruto nodded "you're welcome". They studied each other for a bit, then Ichino said "you know, you're okay . . . for a wolf demon" Ichino added after a pause. Naruto grinned "please just call me Fluffy, and you're okay . . . for a human".

Ichino nodded. "I am sorry". I was one of those people, who are… threatened by you" he said hanging his head, "it's okay, I can be real scary sometimes" Naruto said Ichino snorted, "but tell, me . . . why did you do all this? You know come to Konoha? Join the Anbu? What do you have to prove?" Naruto looked at him "that I can".

Ichino was silent after that. They both worked together and traveled through the darkening sky until little light could be seen for the trees blocked most of it. By this time, Naruto was relying on his night vision and sense of smell more than anything. Now, Ichino was a strong man, but by now his stamina was wearing thin, his breathing was heavy and he leaned on Naruto more and more. Suddenly he started to collapse; Naruto quickly caught him and dragged him onto his back.

Naruto staggered a bit but continued on. For he too was growing weary, but knew he had to get medical attention for Ichino. Then he smelled Ainu's familiar scent, and let out two warning barks to let them know he was nearby. When he heard the three short chirps for the answer, he made his way to her.

Once Naruto made it through the underbrush, he was relieved to see all three of them safe and sound. He eased himself down so Ainu could get Ichino off his back; Goza gave him food and water. Naruto was ravenous, and ate the meager portion of rice quickly not leaving one grain behind.

Ainu and Goza checked Ichino's leg. Despite the work Naruto had done, Ichino still ended up getting a small infection beginning in the wound. Also a fever was building and he was not responding to anyone. Naruto cursed, knowing this had happened because; he didn't clean the wound well enough.

Ainu comforted him by patting him on the shoulder. "You did well. Ichino could be far worse, remember that." Naruto nodded.

Goza took the first watch that night, and around midnight Naruto got up to do his watch despite Goza's protest, Naruto shook his head "no I am well rested." He said "besides I am the only one who can sense the enemy quick enough," he added.

Goza nodded and went to his sleeping bag. Naruto glanced at Ichino. Who was sweating profusely and fidgeted feverishly in his sleep. Naruto walked over and tilted a canteen to his lips so he could drink, but Ichino only took two swallows then would drink no more. Deciding on not wanting to waste water Naruto sighed and put the canteen away.

He walked over to a fallen tree and jumped up on it. He then once more balanced his body weight and became a part of the earth again. This time the forest was quiet, calm, no one had dared entered it; all was as it should be.

But suddenly Naruto felt another presence. It was not human, nor animal. It had something strange to it, yet for some reason it was also familiar, _very_ familiar.

It was large, but still smaller than him; it walked on four paws, but would sometimes stop momentarily and stand on two. It was older from what he could tell and all the while it scouted and scurried about, Naruto could not put a name to what exactly it was. He decided to investigate; he jumped down from the log and tracked the creature.

Naruto crept carefully making sure to stay downwind and quiet. He leaped up into a tree then looked down to get an over head look. It was pudgy and furry and it moved around slowly on its short legs, but with purpose. It was a dark brown but had stripes from the top of its head to its tail.

Naruto finally realized it was a Badger he was looking at, but not just any Badger. This Badger was unlike any he had ever seen. He knew this because, one, it had pure bluish white eyes, telling him that it was blind, and most blind animals don't live long, and, two, it was humming under it breath in a humans' tongue.

It finally paused, then looked up exactly where Naruto was and said once again in a human voice, "Well, are you going to watch an old one like me all night or come down and introduce yourself?" Naruto couldn't believe the old geezer found him, but he cautiously jumped down.

The geezer scurried up to him, but Naruto backed away a few inches, the badger humphed and said "I'm not going to eat you, I just want to meet you" then proceeded to sniff him out, Naruto was extremely uncomfortable.

Finally the old Badgers nose stopped twitching he then jumped and laughed "oh-ho! What do we have here? a wolf demon been many years since I met one of them!"!

Naruto stared, mouth agape. "H-how do you know?" the Badger smirked, showing off what few teeth he had remaining. "Boy, I am a trained healer and seer, and a Badger at that. I know many things".

Then just as suddenly he turned away, "so where have you been my friend"? Naruto couldn't understand this crazy old coot, and then he realized that the Badger had said that he was a medic. Naruto ran after him. "Wait you said you're a healer!" the badger nodded "aye, that's right, why? You have something need healin?"

Naruto nodded. "Yes my friend, he's hurt." the Badger looked towards him acting as if he could see "what kinda friend you have"? Naruto sighed. "He's….he's a human, but he's very sick and needs help."

The Badger shrugged. "Well it will give me an excuse to clear that old big log in the back of my cave. Bring him; it's been a long while since I had company."

Naruto couldn't believe his luck. "You'll help me!... Wait . . . why?" once again the Badger smirked. "Boy, you have to learn to listen. I just said I needed to clear off that old log and that I needed company. Besides, were demons. We help each other out".

Naruto was amazed. "You're a demon?" The Badger scratched its chin then said "are you stupid? Of course! I'm a demon! What else would I be?" Naruto hung his head in embarrassment. "It's just . . . , I never thought I would meet another" he finally said.

The Badger nodded. "Yeah I see where you're coming from. Not many of us left in this world, but there are those select places where we strive and live in peace and posterity. "The rest of us who can't find those places. "We have to make do with what we got."

Naruto nodded understanding the Badger's wisdom. "Shall I go get my friend then?" The Badger nodded. "I'll come with you; see what the damage is anyway." Then without a word he jumped on Naruto's back. "Now, mush," he said smugly. Naruto sighed but continued back to camp.

When he got there the old Badger hopped down and went to Ichino. When Ainu awoke and saw the Badger, she quickly gave a warning whistle. Everyone else woke up and started to go into attack mode as they were trained to do, but then stopped when Naruto gave the 'all clear' bark. They relaxed but were still very wary of the Badger.

The Badger was busy checking all of Ichino's vitals. All the while the others moved closer to the strange creature they never saw before. Finally Goza said, "What the heck is it."?

Without missing a beat the Badger looked up and said, "I am a medic and friend, here to help. What's it to you, you big Baboon."? Ainu and the others chuckled, while Goza sulked.

"Your wolf friend here met up with me while I was gathering supplies." When I told him I could heal he begged me to look at your friend here." Naruto began to sulk as he muttered under his breath "I did not beg."

Ainu asked "Can we trust you"? Naruto answered for the Badger. "Yes, we can. He is kin". The Badger nodded. "Right, the youngling has learned that we demons look out for each other." When the Badger was done with Ichino he said "you, big boy, carry him and you" he said turning to Naruto again with an eerie accuracy. He kept looking at Naruto with those blind eyes then without warning he jumped upon Naruto's back. The Badger grinned from ear to ear then crackled out "mush", Naruto grunted but did as the Badger wished. Naruto and the Badger waited first for Ainu, Toyi, and Goza to be ready before continuing on to the Badger's cave. 


	14. The ways of the Demon

**Life as A Fox**

**Chapter 14*2012 Revision***

**NSW-The Forsaken Author of the Lost Story (see my bio for explanation)**

**Also I have a new story out called 'A Forgiven Father' It is something I have written on the side for a while, and it's chock full of OC's but..you might enjoy it, it's kind of hard to explain...so just check it on your spare time.**

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The Badger, whose name was actually Gomeg, as Naruto later had found out. Lived unlike any normal Badger or even Demon would. He lived in a cave that was set up almost like a private study, papers and odd implements were scattered around the room. The furniture which consisted of a low wooden chair made of wood and thatched reeds sat next to the fire, and a small cot made of odd ends of fabric and random soft stuff Gomeg had found.

Next Gomeg had small low shelves stocked with bottles and shells, and dried out gourds that were filled with various powders and liquids. Leaves hang drying from the walls and the ceiling, and a small stump in the back of the room held many writing instruments and old torn books.

Gomeg went to the back around the stump and started to clear out an enormous pile off papers leaves, shells and other various odd dealings upon the log. Finally when all was removed, Gomeg stirred up the fire, then had Goza set Ichino down on the now cleared log.

Gomeg mumbled under his breath as he moved around his cozy little cave with a graceful ease, it was like he knew where everything was in that glorified mess. Finally he went over to the shelves picked out three vials, then brought down a huge turtle shell, he took a pinch of this and that, poured a few drops of another substance and then hopped on his chair and reached for a leaf, crunched it together and stirred the mixture with his paw.

Once it was a thick soupy goo, he nodded and walked over to Ichino, he grabbed a little of the goo and spread it on Ichino's wound. Ichino made a single cry then went back to sleep. Gomeg, turned around and grabbed yet another gourd, but this time he removed the cork than took a swig, an amber colored mixture ran from the sides of his mouth.

He looked right towards Naruto with that eerie ability that sent chills down Naruto's spine, 'how can he do that when he is blind?' Naruto thought. Gomeg raised his paws over the wound, closed his eyes, then blew out a slow breath; Naruto swore he saw a strange white wind flow from his mouth. Suddenly Naruto felt a rising of great power well within that small cave, the others must not have felt it, but it was a presence Naruto could not shake.

The power filled the cave like a dense fog, making Naruto feel squished and uncomfortable, then light formed at the tips of Gomeg's claws and grew. Naruto held his breath for what seemed like an eternity, then Gomeg muttered, strange words that seemed to only be whispers yet they thundered through Naruto's head, rang in his ears.

Diep in my been  
die godin is in die lewe  
Diep in my selle en bloed  
die Life Force is sterk  
Diep in my hart en gees  
Ek glo ek sal genees

Ek voel die godin by my kern  
vul my met geloof en gesondheid  
Oorvloedige lewe Magte van die heelal  
vloei in my, en verdryf alle siekte

My bloed, my bene, my selle en my liggaam  
is genesing nou, is genesing nou  
Die godin van krag is in my  
en genesing my nou

The song intensified, and grew within Naruto, somehow he knew this song, for some reason he felt the words wash over Ichino and heal, he felt as if he himself was healing Ichino. For the first time in his life Naruto had to fight the urge to lift back his head and howl.

The excitement grew more and more, so much he could barely contain himself, the words were fresh in his mind and this is what he heard.

* * *

Deep in my Bone

The Goddess is alive

Deep in my cells and blood

The Life Force is strong

Deep in my heart and spirit

I believe I will heal

I feel the Goddess at my core

Filling me with faith and health

Abundant Life Forces of the Universe

Flow in me, and banish all disease

My blood, my bones, my cells and my body

Are healing now, are healing now

The Goddess force is in me

And healing me now…

* * *

Gomeg looked up at him, "Step forward my brother your power can heal as well", Naruto's body acted on its own impulse, he walked over to Gomeg. The song still resounding in his mind, beating as wildly as his own heart did.

Gomeg looked at him, "do not hold back that which the mother Goddess of Demons has given us all, the power to heal flows through the song" Naruto understood.

He betrayed his training and all that he had learned, throwing caution to the wind, not caring about anyone or anything but only in the song, and the primeval urging within him. Naruto drew his head back and howled the power from the song flowed from him and entered through Gomeg. Gomeg took Naruto's additional power and molded it within him, then turned it out to heal.

The world sipped away from Naruto, he felt as if in a dream, a strange feeling washed over him. He felt both calm and excited at the same time, feeling that he knew everything but didn't know a thing at the same time; few words could describe this strange yet haunting bliss.

The three others in the cave stood in both shock and awe as the strange sight unfolded before them, these two strange yet wonderful creatures had come together to help heal someone they barely knew. The sheer magnitude of beauty and eeriness that Naruto had in his howl made goosebumps rise on their skin.

Naruto's voice rose and resonated with Gomeg's strange singing created a harmony of never before heard simplicity. Like Yin and Yang their voices circled one another clashing and fighting yet never fully over taking the other, they rose and fell with each other in perfect sync, finally the voices slowly quieted to only a humming, a murmur of a sound here and there until even the hum was gone. Yet a strange presence still filled the cave.

Finally Gomeg's claws flared to their brightest yet, and then flashed a few streaks of white and yellow then dimmed. Gomeg slowly put his arms down he heaved a sigh, and Naruto turned toward them looking as if he came from a daze.

Gomeg moving more sluggishly trotted over to his fireplace, "would you like some grub?" he asked holding out another turtle shell of a strange looking concoction. They respectfully declined and decided to eat their own food.

Ainu went over to Ichino, his leg was completely healed save for a large thin scar. "He will keep the scar for the rest of his days" Gomeg said as if he knew what she was thinking, "but other than that he is completely healed, he just must sleep off the exhaustion of the body's cells, and so do I" he chuckled dryly.

Naruto was silent for a bit, then said, "What happened when you where healing Ichino? What was that I felt?" Gomeg said nothing then replied, "All demons, I guess you could say are hard wired to certain wisdom, to certain instincts that help us in times of need." Gomeg took a lick of the 'grub' and then continued.

"What you just heard was the ancient demon language, all demons know it, even though they never heard it before, and what I just did is called the rites of healing, we asked the Goddess to aid us in our healing, you were overcome by your instinct to tribute yourself and your power to the Goddess as well as any other demon would have."

Naruto was confused for a bit he was about to speak up when Gomeg spoke "All demons have an undying love and adoration for the Goddess, she is in context our mother, we will do whatever it does to please and remain loyal to her, but do not worry." He said swiveling his head towards Naruto "demons can be loyal to other things even more then the Goddess."

Naruto nodded, he understood some of what Gomeg said. "So is there anything else Demons can do"? Gomeg jolted slightly, "you mean you don't know!" then he paused "right, right, you don't know who or what you truly are".

Naruto growled, "I do to, know who I am, I am Fluffy, Anbu trainee of the Village of the Hidden Leaves, Partner and protector of Hinata". Gomeg nodded "right you are all that, but do you know who you truly are?"

Naruto was silent, "come with me my son, you shall learn the truth" Naruto and Gomeg left the others to their supper, he lead Naruto outside. Gomeg turned and walked up the side of the ravine, Naruto followed.

When they reached the summit, Gomeg turned and looked to the night time sky, filled with stars, "are the stars shining?" Naruto answered "yes, they are nice tonight". Gomeg hopped up on a rock, "sit" he said.

Naruto did so. "Naruto the history of demons is written down in our mind and soul, no one can take away who we are and who we always shall be". Naruto paused "and who are we then"? Gomeg said nothing then closed his blind eyes and calmly said "free, demons are always meant to be free, we are as nature intended, what the gods intended, not man".

Naruto twinge inside, "long ago when the earth was first being created, each god and goddess was given their own important duties…."

* * *

_Flash back to long ago…._

_Thirteen figures stood within the grove of sacred stones. One stood for each of the Immortal God's and Goddess's. A large and commanding figure stepped forward; he shimmered with radiant beauty, as he and his golden robes shone in the pale moonlight._

_He spoke out his voice like that of thunder rumbling. "It is time for us, to choose our kingdoms upon this place called Earth". The grove was still as each of the Immortals waited respectfully for their King and father to claim his throne first._

_"From the seat of my throne in the palace of souls to the shining lights of the stars shall be my Kingdom, as I O-wa shall be King of the Heavens". O-wa stepped back; each of the Immortals bowed their head in reverence._

_The next person stepped forward, her eyes like that of a sunset, flecked with an array of colors, her robes a rainbow and she herself glowed luminescent. She spoke calmly and gracefully, "I Joo-wa claim the Fury of the strongest Hurricane and the moist gentle of all breezes, for I shall be the Queen of the winds and weather."_

_Around the circle it went, first the eldest brother then down the line to the youngest, then to the eldest sister finally to the last two sisters it ended. The others had claimed the Kingdoms of Man, Knowledge, Death, Love, the Seas and Rivers, the Plants and trees, the Art of war, and the passage of time. But it was to the last of the Goddesses the decision was to be made, for there was only one Kingdom left to claim._

_The older of the Goddesses dressed in tones more fit for the God of death, she grinned eagerly, "since I am oldest I shall claim the last of the Kingdoms, from no feet to many, from fury to wet, I claim all animals for my own, as I Jiga shall be ruler of the Animals."_

_The last of the Immortals said not a word, then the King god spoke once more, "My youngest daughter, I am sorry to say the truth but there is no other place for you", the daughter then spoke, soft and quiet like a small shower her voice descended upon the ears of all present. "It is true, there are no Kingdoms left, that is why I request to build my own" a gasp went through the Immortals, as each one looked to the King in fear and confusion._

_The King was silent, each Immortal looked from the youngest to the King, and "you cannot! I forbid, a creation of a new Kingdom!" he roared, thunder rumbled through the sky and lightning crackled above._

_But the youngest only put her chin up higher defying her father the King over all. "I Megumi create and claim the creatures of my own design, smart and more powerful than that of my sisters animals, with the intelligence of man and with the diversity of beasts, . . ." she paused as a glint rose in her eye, "and with the powers of the Gods!" she exclaimed throwing her own power into the words which silenced even the thunder and lightning of the King._

_The Immortals looked from one another in confusion uproar of sound grew; finally the King silenced his family once more, "How dare you! You cannot defy your ruler!" Megumi smirked "I have and will". I hush fell over the area, the King looked ready to explode but then the Queen stepped forward, and "Be calm my raging thunder" she said sweetly._

_Joo-wa the Queen of the God's looked to her youngest Daughter, "Megumi, you say you wish to create beings of mans Intelligence, but with the strengths of all the creatures, and the power of the gods? What good will come of this? What shall these beings be called?" Megumi looked down then back up "Demons, they shall be called Demons"._

_Joo-wa shook her head, "and where will they receive their power? Surely you don't intend to birth them all yourself?" Megumi shook her head "no I will give half my power and divide that and put it into the first two of each creation, it is their job to live and multiply."_

_Joo-wa turned her head to the side then smirked, "very well, you shall have this Kingdom, but at a price" Megumi bowed her head "name it" Joo-wa said calmly, "you can never again enter the Palace of souls"._

_Megumi looked up and grinned "it was getting crowded in their anyway, thank-you mother" but her mother did not look at her, no one did, they acted as if she was never there. It was then the young Goddess of Demons realized that she had been banished and thus she was no longer worthy to be called a sibling… or a daughter, she knew they could still hear her, so she smiled and walked over to her sister Jiga and said, "well lets see who's creations are better now"._

_The Goddess of the animals said nothing, but her face made a small twinge as she fought her instinct to turn and yell at the insubordinate sibling, but instead she got a glint and walked over to the God of the humans, and whispered coyly into his ear._

_Megumi felt a dread of fear go down her spine but shook her head, she knew what her sister was probably doing, but she squared her shoulders, she would protect her creations, if it was the last thing she did._

_The young Goddess then turned and walked away from the Grove as she did the 13th of the stones crumbled then faded into the mist._

____

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**NSW**

**Hope you like the corrections I made.**


	15. Train, then run for it

Chapter ?

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NSW

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It was silent when Gomeg finished the tale; Naruto stared up at Gomeg who was so wise and old. The Naruto said "I have never heard of this 13th Goddess, the humans say there is only 12 Gods and Goddess" Gomeg leaned forward, "The Humans lie, you see Jiga went and devised a plan with her Brother, who was the God of the creation of humans, they worked together to get rid of the demons and destroy the sisters powers, so the God told his human creations to hate and detest demons and that all humans should destroy them."

Naruto nodded it seemed to fit, why the villagers had hated and detested the nine tailed fox, Gomeg continued "they also eradicated any knowledge of her ever being a Goddess, but the truth of the demons and gods, the history of the world itself, runs in demons blood."

Naruto said nothing but instead looked up at the stars, "so am I in the wrong? Should I instead hate and detest human's?" he asked Gomeg, Gomeg shook his head "no hatred just breeds more hatred, we must learn to befriends humans, we must open up their hearts, cause the truth also lies within their hearts as well".

Naruto nodded "that's why you helped us?" Gomeg smirked and shook his head "no, I really was bored", then he got off the log and walked back to his cave, Naruto scampered after him. When Naruto ran up to Gomeg, Gomeg spoke "tell me, do you know any of your demon powers?"

Naruto balked, "what powers?" Gomeg heaved a heavy sigh "I thought not. . ." he said. Gomeg stopped and turned his eyes staring past Naruto into the night, Naruto had the urge to look where Gomeg was looking but did not.

"Demons have several different powers, one you have mastered, the ability to speak to other creatures, in all tongues" Gomeg continued "another one of our powers is healing, but only the Demons that practice and train themselves everyday in that art master it."

Gomeg turned back to the cave "Demon can also to some degree, view and travel into other worlds, we can leave behind our physical body and travel with our soul into other realms but only for a certain amount of time, and you can only do certain things".

Naruto's heart leaped to his throat, as he quickly barked out "like what!" Gomeg tilted his head then thought for a moment finally saying, "well let's say, a person is near death, you could concentrate hard and long enough and enter into that person's body, and follow them to where they are in the in-between-place, once there you may talk to them, but you can't touch them, neither can you force them to stay or go."

Naruto took all this is, soaking it like a dry sponge, "can you teach it"? Gomeg grinned "you already know how to do it my son; you just need to practice it to perfect it." Gomeg then began to walk into his cave leaving Naruto in deep thought.

Naruto went back into the cave and went to Ainu who sat on the floor arranging her pack into a nice pillow. "So what did you and Gomeg do?" Naruto shrugged "talked about demon stuff". Ainu looked sad for a moment, "so are you staying?" Naruto sat up in surprise "why would-…with THAT?" Naruto shook his head "no, Gomeg is… a being that likes his solitude . . . a bit too much but it fits him".

Ainu nodded "sorry I guess, I just thought you were so happy to meet another. . ." Naruto nodded "I am, but Human's are the ones who are my friends and family, I grew up with them, I played with them, I fought with them, Humans are my kind, only a few things keep me separate".

Ainu smirked "like a covering of fur and a tail?" Naruto lightly smacked her with his tail, "both a covering of fur and a tail have quite useful functions." Naruto then yawned, stretched and curled up to go to sleep.

* * *

Boku gritted his teeth as he put pressure on his injured leg, 'damn Ninja' he thought as he dragged a comrade on his back to the bottom of the rock fall where they had made a camp. Groans and moaning could be heard from a few men who had received the worst of the damage from the avalanche.

They had lost three men when the bombs went off, and five were missing everyone presumed them to be dead buried beneath the rock somewhere, Boku himself was actually hit by a large shuriken that cut a two inch wide and wound in his calf.

Boku was seething with rage, he was going to them back, and he was going to kill them all or die trying. Boku sat down next to the fire, he mulled his coffee about, it was then they heard the harrowing chilly howl rise up into the night, it caused many of the men to jump with fright and scoot closer to each other in the fire as their fearful eyes looked about them and scanned the top of the gorge.

Boku muttered a curse and then prayed for protection and safety. He then stared back into the fire his eyes gazing intently and burning as brightly as the coals within it.

* * *

Naruto woke up the next morning before anyone else, Gomeg was gone by the others still slept soundly, Naruto got up and stretched and walked over to Ichino, Naruto looked deeply at his sleeping face trying to find a hint of fever or sickness, when his eyes popped open, saw Naruto and he screamed.

Naruto leaped away, the others all were on their feet, and Goza was standing in a fighting position while he snored. Ichino looked at Naruto catching his breath "what the heck! Where are we! What were you doing!" Naruto glared "well, I was looking to see if you had a fever, but it turns out your fine thanks to Gomeg, who is the owner of this cave." Ichino sat up and looked around, "he also was the one who healed you".

Ichino looked down "oh, thanks" Naruto rolled his eyes "don't thank me you moron thank Gomeg!" Ichino stared at him "well . . . where is he?" Naruto that time could not answer Ichino, "I don't know, but he should be back-"Good….morning! My friendly human, how are you today!" said the blind Badger as he came through the cave entrance.

Ichino looked at the Badger then rubbed his eyes, and looked again, "what….am I dreaming?" Naruto snorted "no, this is Gomeg, a healing demon Badger". Ichino looked at Naruto "…" was all he said.

As they had their breakfast, Ichino kept staring at Gomeg, finally Gomeg turned around "just because I am blind does not me I can't feel you looking at me, stop staring youngling"! Everyone laughed.

While Ichino get back on his feet, the others repaired tack or took inventory of what they had. Naruto left the others to their devices and went to Gomeg, "Gomeg, can you teach me to control my powers"? Gomeg turned his head towards him he sighed "might as well" then turned and walked out of the cave, Naruto followed.

Gomeg led him to a small clearing, "one way you can better your concentration and ability to go into other worlds is practicing on entering the thoughts and lives of other creatures." Naruto looked around "so the plants?" Gomeg nodded "you catch on pretty quick". Naruto chuckled remembering a time when he could mess up even the simplest of instructions.

Gomeg sat down and closed his eyes, then spoke "let all thoughts fall away from your mind, relax your body, let you're your mind drift, think of what a tree would think, think of how it would feel to be a tree, then there will be a moment," Gomeg paused "that words can't explain, you just know, that you are becoming one, that you are one, that you are the tree".

Naruto nodded "very well" Naruto laid down and closed his eyes, he cleared out his thoughts, letting everything fall from his mind, he breathed in and out in rhythm with the wind blowing through the trees, then imagined if he was one of the trees.

He thought of what it would be like to stay rooted in the same place for years on end, imagined what it would be like to bloom in spring and grow through summer, then turn colors in fall, and sleep during winter. He thought of what it would be like to have the wind rattle his branches with nice calm breezes or have your branches torn down in the harshest storm.

It was then he felt a strength fill him, a calm perseverance, _'I am the willow tree filled with beauty and grace…, I am the oak tree standing tall and strong…, I am the Bamboo tree I bend but do not break. . .'_ this what he heard and then he was there, he was the tree, he felt the life forces within him, ever flowing constantly growing.

Animals scampered on his strong branches, Birds built nests within the leaves, chipmunks stored nuts within his trunk and a creature lived within his roots, he provided shelter and a home, he gave oxygen and gave food, and the animals in return gave him protection and ate the insects that caused him harm, the tree was the Giver of the forest, the father, for the tree made up the Forest, the tree was the true king.

The he felt something shake his trunk, it disrupted his branches and caused a protest from all the animals, constantly it shook him, until Naruto snapped awake from his dream, Naruto opened his eyes, and looked around, Gomeg sighed "be careful it's very easy to lose yourself when traveling into different minds, you can get caught up in the moment, you must always remember your purpose.

Naruto snorted in irritation, "so I am suppose to forget myself, _and_ remember myself at the same time?" he said furrowing his eyes at Gomeg. Gomeg shook his head "no, you are to forget your physical form, but never forget you spiritual form, for that is the _true_ you". Naruto scratched his head, "I kind of get it," Gomeg nodded "you will understand, later, you are young, now is not the time for you to be worrying about the way of life like me, you job as a young one is to _live_ it."

Gomeg turned away, "I will teach you some healing, but I know that you are not one to heal" Naruto flicked an ear in annoyance. Gomeg snorted, "always impatient you are, anyway come I wish to teach you another thing."

Naruto followed Gomeg once more. Gomeg led him to an out crop of rocks that stood defiantly next to the river, three small shriveled trees clung to the rocks stubbornly holding on and growing upon them, and Naruto looked over to the tallest of the trees, it was stunted, charred and misshapen on top.

Naruto turned to Gomeg, "what is wrong with that tree?" Gomeg grinned "observant at times as well, that my son is a tree struck by lightning, in fact this place has greater importance then all others, can you tell me why?" Naruto looked around; he studied the area for a bit but still could not figure what was so great about this area.

Gomeg chortled "this place has all the Elements combined into one small area, Water, Wind, Earth, fire, lightning, wood" Naruto looked around where is the fire?" Gomeg pointed to the rocks, "these rocks where made from volcano's of long ago, they represent the fire, actually they represent the combining of fire and earth, for they are a metal at their base".

Naruto looked at the rocks, they where dark, but when he stepped closer and looked at them more critically he saw the smooth flowing of the rock a stark contrast to the sharp raggedness of the shape.

Naruto also saw the glimmer and small flecks of metal ore within the rocks, "they are beautiful" he said out loud. Gomeg nodded "this is where the four tailed holder mastered the art of lava element". Naruto looked in wonder "so why are we here? I already know water and wind together creates Ice".

Gomeg smirked "but you do not know that you can change you natural affinity as naturally as you breathe" Naruto's heart leapt to his throat "is it really possible? I mean I made clones that each had their own affinity" Gomeg nodded looking impressed "very good, this is a step, but I must tell you can't wield all five elements in your body at once, it will cause great consequences, it could even kill you, or it will curse you to a never ending life of pain and agony".

Naruto looked at him "wait never ending . . . you mean immortal?" Gomeg sighed heavily, "yes, Immortality, when one has perfect balance of all five elements they become immortal, however they also shall live each moment in pain, only those with a strong will can live forever in that pain."

Naruto shuddered thinking back to Madera, "how come no one ever told us this?" he asked Gomeg shrugged "easy, they could not have known, it is a wisdom only us demons know, Immortality is not for humans, they are selfish and greedy and to fragile both their minds and bodies, they should not dabble in the ways of gods and demons".

Naruto growled "well somehow the knowledge slipped out" Gomeg nodded "yes I have seen it, but many are failures, I believe the cause for this knowledge had something to do with the humans and their capture of the great demons or a trickery of the sibling gods on their youngest sister."

Naruto turned and looked out across the river remembering back to the time he first saw Megumi no Ookami, "Gomeg have you ever met her?" Gomeg shook his head "no sadly I have only heard her or felt a breath of her, but never have I been to be graced with her full presence."

Naruto was silent for a while, Gomeg then sat up and tapped him on the shoulder, "train you body to so it can accept and change into the different affinities, I will leave you, each demon learns his own way, when you are done you may come back to my cave."

Gomeg then waddled away stiffly. Naruto shook his head, he looked around then sighed, and he sat on his haunches and closed his eyes, and once again lost himself into the flow of the elements that lived around him.

After many hours Naruto finally staggered into the cave, he was exhausted and tired but he also felt thrilled and excited, Gomeg smirked at him "good your back, now will you teach these humans how to not ruin everything in my cave."?

Naruto looked at his team mates who were sweaty and trying to sort through the mess of Gomegs cave, "what are you doing?" he asked hiding the humor in his voice, "we are trying to pay for his services by cleaning his cave, as he requested, but it seems he has a different definition of clean".

Gomeg snorted by the fire, Naruto shook his head "I'll help" he said disdainfully. By night fall the cave was just as Gomeg wanted, the five of them fell back into the cushions and unto the floor, for they were exhausted.

Gomeg grinned "here is some food I know you will like, venison stew, with chives and honey clover, with some black raspberry tea" all of them greedily ate and drank the wondrous food.

The next day the decided to head out, Gomeg gave them a few medicine salves and herbs, and a few more healing tips to Naruto and they were off, they traveled fast and quietly on the alert for enemies, they moved efficiently through the trees, but they had to keep the sight of the gorge cliff otherwise they would have lost their way within the thick confines of the forest canopy.

Naruto stayed next to Ichino and Goza, Ainu and Toyi led the way, both of them were faster in the trees then the awkwardness of Naruto's four legs and the large bodies of Goza and Ichino. Suddenly Toyi held up his hand, all of them stopped dead in their tracks.

He signed with his hands that there were enemies ahead, Naruto sniffed deeply, Toyi was correct, Naruto swore to himself 'they shouldn't be in the woods! Their afraid of the woods!' Toyi signaled them to quietly go around the left side, going directly behind them.

Naruto stayed on Ichino's left protecting his weak side, they moved at a snail's pace, covering their chakra signatures and moving without making a sound. Naruto held his breath as they worked their way through the branches, Naruto kept his ears on the alert for any signs that the Enemy was moving.

Then Goza with his large bulk stepped on a branch that was weaker then he thought, it made a single long creak, then a loud audible snap. It seemed to be deafening, all of them paused Goza mouthed the words 'sorry' before a kunai with a paper bomb tied to it thudded into a tree above their heads.


	16. Flashback to Death

**Chapter 16 **

**NSW**

**Life as a Fox**

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**hey everybody sorry it took so long for the upload I was busy with the Wizard of Oz performance my school did I was the Wiked Witch, yay! and I was awsome, so any way heres the newest chapter hope u enjoy.**

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Chapter 16

The group of four traveled bedraggled towards home Goza carried Ichino across his back, and Ainu limped silently behind them. Naruto lead them this time, his tail trailed limp behind him, but he still held his head up to some degree.

He knew they were close to home he could already smell the soft crispness of thousands of trees carrying their scent upon the light breeze. Naruto's heart ached as he longed for home, but more importantly his heart ached because of the empty place upon their team, Toyi was dead, killed on his final test, all because of one error that all of them trained not to do.

He had froze up, he had let his emotions get the better of him, and because of that he paid, his entire team paid, but his toll was the biggest for he lost his life not a few drops of blood.

Naruto closed his eyes as he remembered all that had happened….

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_A paper bomb attached to a Kunai struck the branch above their heads, Naruto leaped backwards as fast as he could, Ainu, Toyi, Goza and Ichino did so as well,_ _suddenly three men came charging, Goza intercepted them with a few well aimed kicks and punches._

_Naruto looked around wildly, looking for enemies, four more men came at them, and Naruto jumped way from Ichino's side and used a fang over fang. The four men dodged him quickly Naruto landed and turned toward them his fangs bared._

_The men paused then one screamed "a vlerwolf!" Naruto grinned those days in the library pulled off, Naruto flicked his ears into a familiar jutsu and sent out his 'call of the wolf no jutsu' twelve wolves emerged from his open howling mouth and leapt at the men, one deflected the wolves by casting a 'water dragon jutsu.'_

_Naruto launched towards them, Goza was at his side, together they fought the four men off, Goza ducked underneath one and came closer to one, he quickly pulled out a kunai and stabbed him in the back through the ribs and hitting the heart in one clean shot._

_The man screamed, causing one of them to froze up, Naruto took his chance and launched at the mans throat. He gripped it in his jaws feeling the throb of his jugular with his lips; He squeezed until he tasted the iron tang of blood then let go._

_Naruto launched at the other man, but was knocked away with a sound punch. Naruto caught himself on a tree branch and looked over to see Goza killing the man that had punched him, suddenly he felt a pain in his arm. _

_He looked over to see a kunai sticking out; He knocked it off and looked for its point of origin._

_But then he looked over to see twelve more men coming at them, Naruto swore, he jumped up to some higher branches and looked down, he created 18 clones and had each one do a fang over fang they attacked with a vicious ferocity._

_Naruto and his clones killed five and injured six. The seven remaining men called a retreat. The group took this opportunity to run like hell, and like hell they did._

_Naruto lead the way, his nose accurate enough to be able to scent the right direction they should be heading, Ainu followed him Ichino was in the middle followed by Toyi and Goza._

_They ran at top speed flying over small creeks and cracks within the earths dust, leaping over fallen rotting logs and other debris, Naruto thought they had a good chance to out run them if they stayed at this clip they would leave the borders of this land by nightfall, and in a day or two they would be home._

_Naruto's heart leapt at the thought of home, it lifted his spirit and he suddenly felt a huge source of energy come from nowhere, Naruto stretched his stride to its fullest, fueling chakra into it to move even faster._

_Naruto stayed like this for a minute when suddenly a burst of color appeared next to him it was Ainu, she was panting heavily "Fluffy! Slow down! We can't keep up with you"! Naruto instantly shortened his gait._

_He slowed way down until the others caught up with him he hung his head "sorry, my instinct got the better of me, I apologize I won't let it happen again" All of them were panting from the running but they all nodded "its fine, just remember you roll with humans not other wolf…Demon…things."_

_Naruto smirked at Goza's confusion, but then he thought he heard a noise, he snapped his ears foreword so they could catch all the sounds. It was just a chipmunk this time, Naruto growled, "We can't stop not until we are home, and we have to move out on Anbu double time if we want to live." _

_ They nodded and followed him, Naruto took them the straightest way he could find, knowing it would be stupid and a waste of time to hide under the branches of the trees in the forest, they moved fast and hard for the rest of the day, and only stopped when the rest of them could no longer keep going or see._

_Naruto rested very little they relied on him to warn them if something was coming or not. They ate greedily that night, they were hungrier then a starving pack of wolves (no pun intended). After they used the last remnants of their strength to eat it, they decided to camp that night about ten miles away from the border._

_Naruto despite all his efforts, still fell asleep, it wasn't until morning did he notice that there was no sound at all, no birds chirped nothing moved. Naruto woke with a start and snapped at them to wake up but already he could see almost two- dozen men coming upon them._

_Naruto turned toward them and put his head down he ran at them, quickly forming his Wolf brigade charge. Around him a sphere of chakra formed creating a shield that protected him, but destroyed enemies._

_He charged blindly into the group clipping a few, some of them leaped backwards and threw kunai and shuriken at him, the were deflected by the shield, and bounced back creating dangerous ricochet around their own people. _

_Naruto lost momentum and so the shield dropped, he leapt into the air so he could dodge some Kunai. Naruto however couldn't do much after the first initial attack whenever he tried to create enough concentration or try to weave the signs for a more advanced jutsu someone would always attack._

_There ranks soon closed in around him, Naruto looked to see where the others where, he could see Goza and Ainu fighting side by side, while Ichino and Toyi stood back to back defending themselves._

_Naruto growled, "Why are you attacking us!" he yelled the men halted, one then said, "Because you have the blueprints to our advanced mining machine! You guys are stealing that which we have worked so hard for."_

_Naruto dodged the fireball aimed at his head, "and why so many attacking me? And not the humans? Who have stolen your blueprints"? The men glared at him "you are a Vler wolf our ancestors have been trying to wipe you out of our lands since the day they came here! We must follow in their foot steps!"_

_Naruto flipped away from an attack this time in mid-air he created 'twelve water dragon no jutsu' so when he landed dragons rose at his feet and attacked roaring with all there might._

_That caused enough of a distraction for Naruto to slip into the woods and cast a genjutsu of his own creation. 'Ancient demon art: relm of the night wolves' the men who had cornered him looked this way and that when suddenly he caught their feeble consciousness in to his dagger like mind and trapped them there._

_To them they seen a flash of white then all the world went into grayscale colors, they could see no one except each other, they looked around there was nothing except for thick rolling mist and a black forest jutting out from dark gray earth._

_Suddenly a voice rang out, it was a male voice but it seemed to loom over them surround them and over power them, at once they were huddled back to back against each other. 'You fear, the darkness of the night, you fear the creatures that lurk . . .and you should . . . but you have made a mistake to try and destroy that which belongs here, that which is far mightier and greater then any puny human…' one man called out "what are you! Show yourself!" then a great rumbling shook the earth, they fell onto their knees in the mist._

_Suddenly they looked up a great Vlerwolf stood looming over the trees, his fur was pure white and sparkled of silver, his eyes were metallic gold luminescent eyes. The men quickly scuttled backwards like crabs, their fear to great for any of them to think about trying to escape the jutsu._

_The creature spoke once more "I am BORMIN! King of the Vlerwolves that roam these woods! Your kind has greatly angered me! You have hunted and killed my people! Prepare to meet their vengeance!" then with that strange glowing eyes loomed out of the mist, they heard growls and feral howls, and all of a sudden the light began to fade, as hundred-no thousands of Vlerwolves surrounded them cutting them off from both escape and from life._

_They screamed and all of them fell to the ground as each of them imagined dying by the fang of a Vlerwolf._

_Naruto smirked and walked through the group of unconscious men, he then looked around for the others, he saw none, he cautiously scented for them, then followed their scent only hurrying when he smelled blood._

_He overcame the crest of a hill and looked down eight people had cornered his team against a large limestone cliff that jutted out randomly on the plains, Naruto moved in, flying over the ground hitting the men with a blind sided powerful attack that used many clones._

_Naruto's attack of course broke through the line, letting Ainu, Ichino, Toyi and Goza to launch attacks and escape. Goza panted "where were you?" Naruto shrugged "capturing twelve guys in a Genjutsu, where were you?" Goza deflected an attack "we'll talk later."_

_Naruto dodged a windmill shuriken thrown at his head "agreed" he said flatly. Goza then took out two very large special Kunai and charged the enemy yelling as he did so. Naruto followed after him._

_One man parried Goza's Kunai with a sword, he was quite strong and skilled, finally him and Goza got locked in a power duel, Goza smirked "pretty strong aren't ya?" the man growled "I am Boku, and you stole my clans blueprints, and have killed some of my friends of course I would be strong, I have to be . . . to Kill you!" he yelled and attacked with a dangerously volatile aura._

_Naruto backed Goza. Ainu and Toyi were quickly knocking the remaining seven out, Ichino was once again injured he leaned against a rock, looking very pale, Naruto was about to go over and help when a man jumped up, Naruto was the only one who saw him, Naruto could tell by the signs he weaved it was a lightning attack, then he looked to see where it was aimed, it was Toyi._

_Toyi was cleaning off his blade and was really paying attention, Naruto knew Toyi's grade in awareness was barely passing when he took the class in Anbu training, the sensei had always said it would get him killed if he didn't learn better, Naruto tried to bark out a warning to Toyi, but fear had taken over his vocal cords and was unable to get the warning out in time. By then it was too late._

_A flash of white and a moment of intense heat filled the air around him, for a moment he thought he was hit, but then his eyesight told him different, the scent of burned flesh hit his nostrils almost making him sick._

_He then seen Toyi land crumpled and not moving a few yards away a small tendril of smoke wafting from him. That sent Him, Goza, and Ainu into a frenzy, they launched attack after attack, kept on hitting and drilling them faster and faster, none of them men could retaliate they would barely dodge a jutsu and another would follow, it one by one they dropped like flies._

_None could stand up to the brutality of them, finally only Boku was remaining, he was bloodied and gasping, sweat trickled along his face and arms. Naruto went in for the kill; the man saw Naruto and shook his head "screw this! We'll just make another blueprint!" and he ran._

_Naruto was about to chase after him the instinct to kill his prey remained strong however he knew his teammates needed him. Naruto ran over to Ichino "are you okay?" Ichino nodded "just a flesh wound"; he then ran over to Toyi, Ainu already kneeled by him. He bowed her head and was crying._

_Naruto didn't need to ask, he already could sense the body was empty of a soul, Goza swore and kicked the ground, after several moments Ichino joined them, Ainu stood and started to bandage his wound, Naruto then moved towards Toyi's body, he began to look for the special scroll they needed to pass the test._

_Once he found it and dug it out he carried it to the others who had moved away from the reminder of death and placed it on the ground. "Here is our ticket to becoming Anbu members, if you decided you don't want to be one make you way back to Konoha by yourself, those of you who want to still be follow me in the morning."_

_Then with that Naruto picked up the scroll and moved some ways away and curled into a ball and slept, Naruto had known somebody needed to take control, they needed a leader, and no one was stepping up to the plate so he was, he was sad for Toyi, and knew he could have done more to help him, but you could not keep looking back on what you did wrong because then you will never look forward and do it right._

_The next morning he walked over to them and looked into each other's grim, exhausted faces. Ainu stood "I am going to be an Anbu, but I am not going to leave Toyi without burying him." Goza nodded standing with her, Naruto looked to Ichino, he stood stiffly "my mother always said, when a person asks you to jump, you reply 'how high', I'm with you Fluffy all the way, and you saved my life."_

_Naruto nodded "very well, Goza you can do earth Jutsu can you create a hole for him?" Goza nodded and walked over to Toyi's body, luckily no birds or scavengers had come for the meat yet, but Naruto could see them on the horizon._

_Naruto once again leaned down to the bloated body and grabbed something off of him. Lifting the I.D off the body Naruto tucked it into his own small special vest that had pockets that he could open and close._

_Naruto then turned to the rest of them, Goza lifted the body and put it into a hole he had dug, Ichino covered him, then Ainu put a rock for a head stone and a small bundle of wild Flowers._

_There was a moment of silence, then Naruto said "it is time" they nodded and moved off in step with him. Naruto looked back on last time at that small grave looking so alone and small in the wild vastness of the wilderness._

That was how their Anbu test finished the four of them walked into the Anbu training grounds, it looked like two or three groups finished before them. Naruto walked right up to Mammoth and handed him the scroll.

Mammoth nodded "good you finished, your team passes" Naruto glared at Mammoth "Sir, I am not the leader of this team, Toyi was, and I took his place because no one else would." Mammoth tilted his head to the side. "Are you insinuating something, Fluffy"?

Naruto looked him right in the eye "you bribed an entire nation into thinking that someone stole their blue prints for a machine that they had built and designed, we had to fight and run for our lives every second, you gave us a person who was unfit to lead on purpose, you set him up to fail, you set him up to die, you wanted him to die" He spat.

Mammoth was taken aback, "It is my duty to weed out the strong from the weak" he said taking an authoritarian tone, "well next time remember that some of those weakling's you weed out are someone's son, or someone's daughter, someone cares for them, not all of us are nameless identities in masks and cloaks, we are people before we Anbu, and the thing about people is we build bonds, and you can't stop that no matter how cold hearted you are." Mammoth was silent. "Or think you are" Naruto added then turned and walked to his friends.

While he walked Anbu members on both sides Senior and greenhorns stared at him, he walked his head high not caring, then a small clapping sound started Naruto stopped and turned it was Mammoth, Mammoth was clapping.

He chuckled then said "Fluffy I must salute you, you are the only one to ever call me out like that, and you speak the truth we are people before we are Anbu, however as an Anbu we must learn that our emotions will get the better of us, and will cause us to make mistakes, people will make choices on other people, you need to be able to make a choice based on the success of a mission, not the survivability of the members."

Mammoth stepped forward "like it or not, the four of you in your group have unconsciously passed this part of the exam, you could have wasted time and effort by dragging a decaying body with you, but instead you choose to leave it behind, you left him behind in enemy land were no one will ever find him again, you may say I don't care about the people I send but you have made the same decision as I have, like or not you have became good Anbu members."

All of the people present bowed there heads, Naruto was the last to do so, Mammoth smirked "okay all of you go to the medical ward and get checked out, then each of you will be called into my office individually."

Naruto looked around out of the 6 teams only three were present, and Naruto's team had lost a member so only 14 people stood there "sir, what of the other teams"? Mammoth paused before saying "not all the teams were as smart nor as lucky as you" then he turned and walked away.

Naruto was shocked 14 out of 30 contestants passed the test, 14 people were the newest of the Anbu, and he was one of them.

Naruto was checked out, then he was led upstairs, to the third floor were Mammoth had his office, Mouse sat diligently outside the office in his own little desk, Mouse nodded to the man who led Naruto.

The man with the raccoon mask nodded and left, Naruto looked at Mouse who pointed to the door, Naruto stepped forward and entered. The room was as big as the Hokages and seemed to be an exact replica, the desk was at the far edge of the room next to the windows, and the Anbu symbol was stamped into the floor in red ink.

The Konoha emblem hung on red fabric around the room, and then stacks of papers littered the desk and the three chairs behind it. Mammoth sat at the desk writing some forms, he looked up "ah, Fluffy, nice to join me, I trust everything is well health wise?"

Naruto nodded "good, good" he mused and looked down at his paper there was a silence. Naruto stepped forward "Sir?" he said Mammoth looked up "huh? what…. Oh yes right come here I have something for you" then he looked around the room, then he tried his desk, "oh wait yes that right I forgot Mouse was supposed to bring the box up, Fluffy can you go down to the mass hall? I'll be right behind you just have to finish up with some stuff."

Naruto was very confused but did as he was told, when he left the room Mouse was gone, Naruto sighed and went down the flight of stairs and turned left into the Mass Hall, it was dark, but at the head table he saw the box Mammoth was talking about, he padded over his claws hitting the smooth stone floor.

He paused 'wait a second, the echo is wrong' he lifted his nose into the air, and flicked his ears, but he didn't need to cause all of a sudden the lights flicked on to an astounding brightness then his ears were overcome with the sound of an entire large room full of people yelling out congratulations.

Naruto looked around at all the people, surprised but then saw all the cheering faces he laughed with them, then Mammoth came up from behind "did you really think I would be that stupid as to forget my box of special masks?" he laughed "they fall for it every time" Naruto followed him up to the table.

Mammoth dipped into the box then brought up a mask, it was different than normal masks, it looked to be made of a metal instead of clay, it also was in the shape of a wolf's head, and Naruto bowed his head as Mammoth.

Mammoth then turned to the rest of the audience "brothers and sisters today we welcome a new sibling among our family! I present to you Fluffy the Demon Wolf of Konoha, who's name shall now be WolfHeart when he wears this mask…" and with that Mammoth leaned down and place the mask on Naruto.

It fit him perfectly the eye holes just rimmed his eyes so his sight was not blocked, it also was quite light and easy for him to slip on and off, a protective and comforting material lined the inside so the mask didn't rub to hard and chafe his fur and skin.

Naruto turned to his new comrades, pride swelled within him, he was now an Anbu, and he was WolfHeart the first and only Demon Wolf to ever serve in the Anbu core. Then a chant filled the room as the Anbu around him screamed his name until it was a roar "WOLFHEART,WOLFHEART, WOLFHEART!".

Naruto smiled suddenly a howl built up his chest, he leaned his head back and let it flow out, putting in all his happiness and pride into it, the Anbu howled with him.

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**GAH! I AM SO SORRY I LET IT HAPPEN AGAIN! I DON'T KNOW WHY I WAS SO SURE, ANYWAY THIS IS REALLY CHAPIE 16 SORRY ABOUT THAT AGAIN! **

**PLEASE YOU CAN HATE ME ALL U WANT I CAN'T BELEIVE I WAS SO STUPID(AGAIN)**

**(AGAIN) I AM SO SORRY!**


	17. Everyones growing up, how old am I?

**Chapter 17**

**NSW**

**Life as a Fox**

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Naruto padded through the streets happily. He couldn't believe it he had spent almost four months living in the Anbu trainee compound and now he was out and about in the city. Everything seemed old and new at the same time; it was like a whole other world within Konoha's streets.

Naruto stopped by Ino's flower shop she was behind the register rearranging some flowers, Naruto stood on his back paws and leaned onto the counter "good day" he said Ino screamed and jumped away then saw it was him and glared and bobbed him over the head with a rose.

Naruto chuckled "Ino-Chan are you alright? Did something happen?" suddenly a voice said both of them looked over to Sai who came in carrying small potted plants. Naruto looked at him then to Ino, then back "okay, what did I all miss?" he simply stated.

Ino closed the shop up and lead him to the back of the shop, He sat down on a chair and waited for her to explain "tea?" she asked "Naruto nodded "but not too hot" she smiled and began to pour some tea into a decorative bowl for him.

Ino then sat down Sai went back out to un-load more stuff "well you have been gone for what? Four months?" Naruto nodded. Ino stirred her tea then blew on it to cool "well, were to start, hm well Hinata and Kiba are now engaged" Naruto jumped "what!" he exclaimed.

Ino nodded "and so are Ten-Ten and Neji, and then there's Sasuke . . ." Naruto narrowed his eyes and growled, "What did He do?" Ino shook her head "he didn't escape or anything, it's just one his wives is now three months pregnant."

Naruto shook his head "that does not concern me, I do not put the sins of the father on the child" Ino nodded "very well, any way you should get home, I bet Hinata has been dying to see you" Naruto smirked "I am, but first I need some flowers."

Ino jumped up and clapped "yay! What kind? For who and what purpose?" Naruto sighed "its not a date if that's what you think, I just want some forget-me-nots for Hinata" he smirked.

Ino nodded "coming right up" she then rushed into her shop and began to wrap up some flowers "these will be on the house" Naruto sighed "no that's okay I should pay, you" he said reaching into his Anbu vest.

Ino gasped "wow! You really are an Anbu now, this is so…different, any way the flowers are my gift to you, take them" Naruto thanked her and left.

Hinata sat looking through the cook book wondering what to make tonight when she heard the familiar flap of a doggie door and claws on the floor, "Akamaru you better not have dragged in mud or something dead" she called out while still reading.

The sounds suddenly ceased, and the house went quiet. Hinata put the book down and turned she gasped when she saw the beautiful bouquet of Forget-me-nots she touched them lightly trailing her fingers on the petals. She said out loud "you know Kiba I actually prefer Lilies, Forget-me-nots are Naruto-"suddenly a voice called out "yes?"

Hinata swung around Naruto stood in the doorway wearing an Anbu vest and grinning. She leaped for him "oh Naruto"! And hugged him fiercely. "I can't believe it! Your home! You're finally home! Screw supper was going out tonight to celebrate"!

Naruto rubbed his forehead against her "I'm sorry I was gone so long, and now I am an Anbu, so I will be even gone longer, but its okay I get vacation, some medic leave here and there and most importantly very good pay, and dental" he said smirking widely revealing the missing tooth he lost in taijutsu practice.

Hinata groaned and lifted his gum "Naruto you are going to ruin this body t-…well never mind where do you want to eat?" She stood up suddenly Naruto looked at her he whined, "Hinata are you worried about me?" she looked at him tears in her eyes.

She wiped them away "how can I not be, we lost you once, I don't want that to happen again, and now you have the most dangerous Ninja job, the death rate for Anbu is 90%, Kakashi barely lived through some of his missions."

Naruto bowed his head "I know Hinata, I know, but I need to live my life, I need to have goals and something to aim for, otherwise, I am just nothing but a ghost on the wind, and believe me I never want that again." He padded up to her and nudged her hand.

She sighed and placed it on her head "promise me Naruto, promise me you will still be there when I need you, and I need you to be there at my wedding, you're walking me down the isle." Naruto bowed his head "I would be honored."

Naruto went into his room and put his stuff away, he then came back out. Hinata set out a bowl of Ramen for him "there you are" she said patting his head. Naruto greedily dug in slurping the noodles up with vigor. Just then he heard the front door open and close, his nose told him it was Kiba and Akamaru.

He turned to them when Kiba walked into the kitchen; Kiba jumped and swore "Naruto! You're back!" Naruto nodded and slurped up the noodles. Kiba went over and gave Hinata a kiss "so what's the verdict?" he asked Naruto puffed his chest out "You are looking at Konoha's first Demon wolf Anbu member."

Kiba held out a hand "High….paw" he said correcting himself Naruto put his paw into his hand. For a moment he remembered back to the time he had a hand, and fingers and even thumbs, but Naruto shook the thoughts away that was then, this is now.

Naruto finished his noodles and jumped down. "Kiba where should we go to celebrate?" Hinata asked taking off her apron and putting away cooking supplies Kiba scratched his chin "I don't know somewhere nice, and allows animals" Naruto nodded "how about that place we went to celebrate for Kakashi?" Hinata nodded 'sure, why not?"Hinata then went to the phone to call everyone to see who could come.

Shikamaru was on a mission but Neji, Ten-Ten, Lee and Sakura (who were dating now) (I don't remember if I have mentioned that before sorry) Ino and Sai couldn't make it because they had a reservation at another restaurant.

They all sat down and had a good time, they discussed the newest things that had happened in Konoha (respectfully they stayed away from the topic of Sasuke). Then when Hinata started talking about her wedding plans, all the guys groaned and Naruto sighed inwardly.

Hinata after hearing the negativity shrugged "well I guess us girls will have a day out to talk about it" Kiba muttered "thank-kami" under his breath. Hinata elbowed him, "just you remember, you the one that asked me" he nodded "I know" and patted her leg, then quickly gave her an Eskimo kiss.

Naruto yawned "you getting tired already"? Sakura asked. Naruto nodded "yeah, the last test took a lot out of all of us, but we were passed" he said sitting straighter. Hinata looked curious "what was the test?" she asked. Naruto hesitated for a second then said "well, I can't go into detail, for various reasons of course" he explained " but, I will just say it took all of our skills and everything we learned to pull through, even though we still lost…" Naruto stopped and looked away from them.

He stared into the distance for a while then finally at the mention of his name he finally finished what he was going to say. "Mammoth purposely gave the team the worst of all of us to lead", he told them, then continued "only so he could see if they would rise to the challenge" there was a moment of intense silence as he let the information sink in. "Well, he didn't" he finally stated, the angrily he tore a piece of bread and ate it, swallowed and said "and Toyi ended up paying with his life."

Hinata gasped and the table went silent, Naruto looked down at his plate, "as you can imagine I take death quite seriously". He paused. "I firmly believe that you should not set a person up to fail", looking around he spoke to them, looking each in the eye. "Too personally find the weakest link?" he exclaimed "and then set him out to get hammered first?" he shook his head "just so you can either get rid of them or try and make them stronger".

Naruto sighed looking down at his plate, "it's not right, it goes against every basic instinct I have wolf or otherwise, but this is something they taught us, that emotions and feelings, are unneeded and can hinder your judgment, it really is quite confusing."

Naruto looked back up "but they say only the strong of the strong will survive and the truly strong person is one who rises to overcome his weaknesses, so am I wrong to believe in my emotions? "He asked them "but then look at Kakashi he is an ex Anbu and he says that those who forget their comrades are trash, who is to believe in this world?"

Naruto laid his head on the table, "maybe the only way to excel in Anbu is to be one of the heartless, and disturbed. Only finding release from their memories of what they have done through alcohol and sex."

Sakura coughed when he mentioned sex "what?" he asked looking at her. She cleared her throat "well, I… is it true? I mean the rumors?" Naruto nodded "first lesson in basic survival class, when one come back from a mission that wasn't very pretty, 'you may feel detached and more prone to violence, and or suicidal thoughts', 'find something that will fill your time and take your mind off of stuff'." He quoted, Naruto took a breath and continued, "The most popular are, Drinking, Sex, and sometimes beating a person or thing up."

Sakura took a long drink from her drink "interesting" there was another awkward silence. Naruto looked over at Sakura who was avoiding contact a slight pinkish tint to her cheeks, Naruto rolled his eyes and stated "Sakura I will probably go drinking then try and mate with a human." Then he added "no matter how drunk they are" he stated simply.

Hinata stifled a giggle, while Sakura turned bright pink, Naruto grinned. "Oh, I forgot you're a visual thinker, aren't you?" she covered her eyes "I take that as a yes then" he said. The table roared with laughter, "so naruto? What else did you learn"? Asked Kiba. Naruto shrugged "lots of stuff, new jutsu's, new techniques, it's really neat, I also took this advanced human anatomy class, so I know where exactly to bite a person to kill them or to knock them unconscious, it is really awesome." He said happily.

Another pause, "what it is"? He asked when they kept staring. He smirked, showing off his missing tooth yet again, "you're not going to have any teeth by the time your 40" Hinata stated Naruto shrugged "who knows if I will make it" Hinata gasped "don't say that"! Naruto rolled his eyes "no I mean really, do I age like a human or am I going to age like Akamaru and be dead in ten years, sorry Kiba" Kiba looked sad "I don't want to think about my buddy being gone right now, but I know he is, he's technically middle aged now."

Naruto nodded "and although I only feel young, and think young, my body seems I don't know more mature then it should be" Hinata stared off into space, "Kiba how long do wolves usually live"? Kiba looked at her "15 maybe 20 years depends", she looked at Naruto "and how old does Naruto look?"

Kiba looked at him and studied him "about five or six years old" Naruto glowered at him. Kiba shrugged "so if Naruto ages like a dog, he will be 40 in about four or five years" Naruto groaned and slammed his head into the table, but forgot he had a muzzle, and instead hurt his nose awfully bad.

They left the restaurant and strolled casually down the street. "So, back to the anbu…reattachment stuff, how are you supposed to drink? You're a dog" Naruto glared back at Sakura, "well it would be a lot more simpler then the bestiality I would have to commit" Hinata snorted laughter once more as Sakura this time turned bright red.

Hinata looked down at him "still we have to somehow slow your aging down or something, you can't die in 15 years!" A laughter chimed out, "oh you human's you forget, he is also a demon wolf" Naruto turned to the voice, it was Megumi, she stepped out she his most of herself beneath a purple garb, hiding her godliness, but her beauty could not be hidden.

Naruto stepped to her "how long then will I live?" she smiled "Demons age like normal until there body is fully mature, then they age like humans, one year at a time, but they can outlive human's especially if you are a demon turtle, or fish" Naruto sighed "so I am not going to die old, or I mean young…err….you know" she laughed and shook her head "of course not silly, now as for the alcohol and stuff, demons have a digestive similar to humans, I designed you that way so you can live among humans not to hide from them, but sadly…"

She sighed Naruto went up to her and rubbed his head against her, her touch, and her scent filled him, his heart yearned to be closer to his creator, he loved her but not in a romantic way, but like a child loves his parent, or a student his sensei, that was his love.

She leaned down and scratched his ears, "your journey is a long one Uzumaki Naruto, and I gave you this body for that purpose." Naruto nodded she moved even closer to him so that only he and him could hear the conversation "do not worry my pet, you did not cause Toyi's death, you are not to blame rest easy, my love."

Naruto sighed, his soul lifted, he thanked her and stepped away, but not before she gave him a kiss on the forehead. "Go and rest, your journey has just begun, your destiny is a long one, but will end in greatness, for all of you" then with that she faded with the wind.

Naruto sighed the said "well I guess I better get ready for tomorrow, I start doing missions now", Hinata sighed "and so it begins".

* * *

**sIGH IT SHOULD BE RIGHT BUT i DON'T KNOW ANYMORE...**


	18. Weddings and Bloodlust

**Chapter 18**

**Life as a Fox**

**NSW**

* * *

**NOTICE- Inow have a new Beta, and the story will soon be going under costructon and will be reposted as soon as posssible.**

**I hope this does not bring fan anger or angst to any of faithful readers and reviewers.**

**from your faithful **

**NSW.**

* * *

Months had passed, Naruto was rising in the ranks of the Anbu, and many of them even the veterans were beginning to respect him. Naruto also had become quite good friends with Ichino, Goza and Mouse the secretary of the Anbu.

However Ainu had became more distant from them, and though Anbu never had specific 'teams' that they stayed on, or were registered to, Naruto ended up going on most of his missions with the 'team' of Goza, and Ichino. Together they had completed many missions; of course Naruto was called on for a few solo missions mostly just spying which was quite easy for him to do, since he could blend easily as either a homeless dog or a wild wolf.

In fact because of his mission success rate, Mammoth called him more and more often on Solo missions. One day however Mammoth, called him for a mission he was always dreading to get, an Annihilation Mission.

Annihilation missions were different from most other missions. They were basically an over-stated hit list, and the one that Naruto had received was long. Naruto stood in front of Mammoths desk; he looked at the list, "so this is my mission sir?" Naruto asked.

Mammoth nodded. "This group has been causing much trouble, they are preying on merchant routes, if we don't stop them soon people will stop trading and traveling to villages." Naruto nodded understanding the importance of the mission.

Mammoth nodded "very well I will leave it to you, they were last spotted in the land of Marsh Grasses, I trust you will come back successful and in one piece now go" Naruto bowed his head "hai sir!" he yelled then ran down to the Armory.

* * *

While he was being fitted and loaded (Which one of the few things he did need help with, although he much regretted doing something so degrading) Naruto thought of Hinata's wedding which was only a week away.

'_I have to finish this mission quickly then ask for a day off for the wedding'_ he decided, once the last strap was tightened he was off, running at a gait that moved fast but required little energy.

It took a day in a half just to reach the land of Marsh Grasses, a very small country that could only be reached by going through the sound country. Naruto rested for the rest of the day then that night went into town under his 'begging dog' guise.

He left his stuff hidden safely in the woods and instead wore a frayed rope color that hung from his neck limply. He also smudged up his fur and made himself look as skinny as possible.

He wandered around the town square, listening to the conversations of the people, most of it was town gossip _'blah, blah, blah'_ he thought as he half listened to the gossip when a tidbit of the conversation of the two men in the booth next door drifted his way.

He ducked beneath the table and listened in "that merchant over there is selling pottery, he carries all his supplies with him, that includes the jewels and the gold dust, he is also traveling with a few others that should be good hits but he is the best, they leave in two days, we have to go tell the men, and plan when to hit them"

Naruto followed them from a safe distance; he waited to see where they went. Finally he saw them go onto a path that headed in the direction of an old shrine that was located in the woods, no one went there, it was long forgotten and unpopular the town had moved unto bigger things.

So Naruto followed them through the trees stalking them quietly, the men were more brash and more open of the mouth when they got out of town. They talked about the last time they had 'fun' it was sickening and made bile rise into Naruto's throat when they talked about what they did to those poor women.

Anger sparked into Naruto of how people could be so cruel and evil at times. Naruto though took check of his anger and let out a sigh. Naruto continued until they arrived at camp.

There were at least 20 of them, all of them big and ugly and had weapons, large swords, broad swords, long bows, some even had ninja weapons, and by the look some of them were even Missing Nin.

Naruto studied them for the rest of the day silently accessing were to go and who to hit first when he would attack that night. By the looks of everything the leader was a man near the temple door that was sealing all the stolen good in scrolls.

Naruto studied the man closer, he was tall, tan skin, but something about his felt familiar, and so was the way he was sealing things, everything was so fluid, and easy for him that made little flags go off, but he couldn't place it, and he couldn't see the man's face for the shadow in the doorway.

Naruto sighed when the man went back inside, Naruto looked up, it was starting to get dark out, and so he left to go get his gear and something to eat.

Naruto waited until it was late into the night before he traveled back to the group. He walked through the woods towards the temple, while he thought _'I must say it was very good luck to find them so easily, I can get this mission done and then go home to see Hinata and Kiba get married'_.

Naruto slunk through the bushes, he paused and let all of his senses go to the highest degree of attention, he could hear each person's individual breathing pattern, he exhaled slowly with the night wind.

He felt his body loosen some tension in the correct places and tighten in the right ones; he was perfect for this job.

Silently he crept to the farthest away person from the group; he moved in with lightning fast reflexes and snapped the man's neck before he even woke up. No one else heard him so one by one he went around snapping the neck, but then when he went for the third man's neck he woke up.

He made a gurgled noise as Naruto tore the jugular quick. It sprayed blood all over and causing much of the bittersweet tasting liquid to go down his throat. All at once there was noise and sound, Naruto turned and launched at the man closest to him.

Attacking with fangs he leaped and dodged ripping and shredding any skin that came close to him. Avoiding using jutsu's until at the last minute. Finally one must have ran into the temple and woke the leader up cause all of a sudden they stopped shouting and attacking and just surrounded him.

Naruto eyed them, looking for which one would attack first. Then a man stepped out of the shadows Naruto gasped he had burning bright red hair, and sea blue eyes.

Naruto growled low, "what is it sir?" the man looked a him "must be a ninja dog, by the fact that it has ninja gear on it, and it hails from Konoha, so we just need to find the puppet master, go and search for the person who owns it, should be a ninja nearby"

Naruto quickly made a barrier _'I am not letting any escape'_ he thought, Naruto growled and launched again into attacks. The men were surprised by the fact he was using jutsu's.

Very few put up a worthwhile fight for Naruto. But the few that did used simple attacks and no system or pattern; they were used to attacking helpless people who had no idea how to fight using their numbers to scare others.

They never stood against a person who actually fought back, and adding to the fact that it was a dog that they were fighting, Naruto dodged the sword blade brought his head up underneath quickly and dug his muzzle into the stomach and ripped a hole.

Naruto moved away from the screaming man he would die soon anyway, this time two guys attacked at once Naruto dodged there choppy sword swings and used a water dragon attack sending them sprawling.

Three men charged their swords drawn while four others cast jutsu's finally it was a challenge, Naruto leaped into the air, he spun and weaved high velocity winds around him creating a small twister with his chakra that kept him suspended in the air.

The air currents blew the men's weapons away and made them stop in there tracks stood up against the strong gales. Naruto dropped back to earth and created ten clones they ran around attacking and throwing random jutsu's to cause confusion.

Naruto scanned the area, suddenly the full moons light came out from behind a cloud covering, the battle suddenly changed for Naruto. The moonlight caused strange affects on him, he saw the men diffrently after that, the y seemed like abunch of prey, easy and defensless and weak, and one who is strong had to make sure the weak never lived.

Adrenaline coursed through his veins as wild instinct took over him, he wanted to stop it to break free but he was already ensnared into natures wild addictive call.

Voices rose in the back of his mind quiet at first then they grew louder and louder until they screamed at him forcing him to act otherwise he would go mad.

_'Hunt'…'fight'…'kill'_ Naruto let a growl rise from his throat suddenly his vision went red and he attacked his primeval thoughts making his head feel like a mist, no train of thought he had only that which he heard, he did not see the men fall one by one beneath his fangs he did not hear there cries, he did not feel anything.

He only acted and reacted, the taste of blood drove his taste buds wild, no longer was it bitter, but instead it was sweet and a beautiful taste that left him wanting for more, he lusted and hungered for it, so he tore deeper and gnashed his teeth harder.

Soon the clearing went quiet as the last man fell well almost the last man only one was left, the red head. Suddenly the sight of the red hair scent powerful memories the words 'mother' and 'uzumaki' rang through his head.

Suddenly Naruto realized he had a voice, "who are you?" he asked the man said nothing for a moment then he spoke "My name is Satoi, and I was the leader of a band of rouges but it looks like you killed them all"

Naruto looked at all the bodies around him suddenly he felt very sick. "And I am guessing you have no master" the man continued. Naruto shook his head.

The man clucked his tongue "so that make you a Demon? Funny, Konoha would be the last village I ever thought to accept Demons into their ranks" Naruto growled "quit stalling, either you come with me willingly or join your friends" the man laughed "I will never submit myself to the ball and chain of being a prisoner, instead I make my own life and own rules, and I don't think a simple demon like you could take me on, you have no idea of my power".

Naruto grinned "by the looks of it you're an Uzumaki, a survivor from the whirlpool, they were masters of fuinjutsu, but had high stamina and loads of chakra, but terrible control". The man was startled that he knew so much.

Satoi chuckled "very few people know such things, Demon" Naruto shrugged "I have my ways, and I am prepared to fight a battle with another Uzumaki" Satoi looked at him questionlly, "you knew another?"

Naruto nodded "several young survivors were taken to the village, Uzumaki Kushina was one of them, she had a son with the Yonidaime, and his name was Uzumaki Naruto."

Satoi grinned "well, lets put your words to the test, come on Demon bring it" Naruto grinned and dashed ahead, making several clones with his ears while he did so then they played the old switcheroo, running in circles around each other and jumping over and under they confused the enemy.

While they did this Naruto created a few clones to hide themselves within the bushes, and then created a deep fog to start rolling in on the battlefield.

Satoi went through the hand signs for his jutsu _'dance of the twelve fire dragons'_ who appeared in all their flaming glory and struck at Narutos clones destroying them with their fiery rage.

Naruto went through the signs of _'Raging water phoenix'_ attack and doused out the twelve dragons in a single hit. Satoi was knocked back by the force of the impact.

Naruto took this moment to use the water on the ground as pathways for him to go through and attack with (_remember back to team 7's first mission with the two brothers)._

Satoi looked around before realizing the water on the ground he leaped away from the puddles but not before Naruto used a special chain weapon called a Manriki Gusari,(_if you don't know what that is its like chain with a curved blade on the end, or go to google images)_ he threw seven of them out of the different puddles he had clones in.

They caught Satoi and caused him to crash into the earth, Naruto pulled the chains tight Satoi grunted. Naruto rose up out of the nearest puddle and leaped at Satoi; he flipped over and lashed out with his legs kicking Naruto back in mid-air.

Naruto landed with a grunt, he rose, Satoi was trying to wriggled out of the chains, Naruto looked as the clones were being pulled out of the puddles, and he whistled and directed his clones with his thoughts.

They obeyed him and began to run in a circle wrapping the chains tighter, and then he told the clones in the trees to attack, the converged upon Satoi, who used his head and shoulders to attack the clones back.

Suddenly Satoi used an incredible bust of chakra that sent the clones and the chains that held him flying, he roared in triumph. But Naruto was far from over.

He re grouped the clones that were left and they formed a Wolfs Brigade charge. Attacking as a pack they surrounded him.

The man and wolf fought beneath the moonlight his red hair flying upon the wind and Naruto's Crème fur glowing in the moonlight, they clashed and parried.

Wolf and Man long ago were enemies but generations of domestication had made the wolves breed into dogs who then became companions, but underneath the same moon here. Two beings fought each other against themselves and against the destiny that gods had drawn out.

But this time man did not triumph, instead he fell to the Nature, he fell to the jaws of the beast, the inner beast that raged inside of man had slumbered for too long no more could it rise to the fight and the challenge, it's fighting spirit taken away, it had grown soft from generations of unused.

Naruto rose that night glimmering in the moonlight, he rose covered in Blood and sweat, he was injured and tired but most importantly he was victorious. He had overcome the obstacles; he looked up to the moon, the only witness to the events that had transpired here.

Naruto looked down he had killed all of these men, granted some deserved to die, but what of the others? What if they were forced into this life? How many of them were like him? Orphaned and alone and turned to crime because they thought it was the only way out? And what about Satoi? What if he was the last Uzumaki? What if he had family hidden somewhere still in hiding?

The thoughts caused Naruto to falter in his step, suddenly the flashes of what had happened replayed over and over in his mind, the cries the blood everything, it was too much.

Naruto howled in agony, he was torn from the inside, the voices of the dead clashed with the voices and rules of the Anbu, he was overcome with such raw emotions he just collapsed and stayed there the night amidst all the bloody corpses.

* * *

That night he dreamt terrifying dreams that all the dead were coming back to get them there decaying limbs reached for him there haunted voices calling, always calling. He snapped awake, it was early morning, he looked all around him he shivered, and sunk his head, 'come on Naruto get a hold of yourself' he told himself.

He sighed and assessed his wounds that he so foolishly slept on without tending, it was hard to tell which hard caked blood was his or the enemies, but from what he could tell twas but some deep scratches from swords.

Naruto shook himself stiffly and got to work first he sealed away all the bodies in special scrolls and sent them Via special summoning birds to Konoha then he went into the shrine and gathered up all the scrolls that held the '_evidence_' that the Anbu would '_confiscate_' and '_store'_ in the head quarters, at least that's what it seemed to be used for but actually how else do the Anbu pay for all the weapons and supplies they go through?.

Naruto cleaned up the area to make it look like nothing happened then headed home, he ran at break neck pace because he knew tomorrow was the wedding, and he had to get there.

Naruto ran through the night by early morning he could see Konoha, by mid morning he was in Anbu head quarters, standing before Mammoths desk.

Mammoth stared at him, "are you all right?" Naruto nodded panting, "Yes…I just need to have today off for a wedding," Mammoth looked at him "take the week, you need rest, and go get yourself cleaned up" Naruto nodded and ran.

* * *

Hinata waited anxiously in her White gown, she looked this way and that still no Naruto, she fiddled with her flowers he just had to be coming, Tsume Kiba mother came out "they're getting anxious, especially Kiba" Hinata nodded "I know just five more minutes please?" Suddenly a voice rang out "wait,! I am here!"

Hinata looked over there was Naruto dressed in his little dog tux they had found and with his bow tie, his fur was well somewhat in order, but tinged red all on his chest, she also seen he had fresh stitches on his head above his eyes, and bandages here and there.

Hinata smiled at him, Tsume nodded and went back in; she bent down "are you okay?" Naruto nodded "I rushed through my mission just to be here" she looked at him "how did it go" Naruto shook his head "one of those, and you know what I mean" she nodded, "I won't ask, so don't tell anymore" Naruto nodded.

The he smiled up at her "you look beautiful" she beamed and gave him a kiss on the forehead, "so do you" Naruto snorted. The music began to play, "shall we?" he asked. Hinata laid a hand on his shoulder, "lead the way" she said and Naruto did just that.

It was a beautiful ceremony, and all of the teams and their senseis were there and Kakashi was the one who joined them together, (meaning he was the preacher or whatever you want to call it)Naruto happily got to sit in front row with Akamaru next to Hinata and Kiba.

The best man was Shikamaru, and the Groomsmen were Sai, Neji and Lee, the bridesmaids were, Sakura, Ino, and Ten-ten. All of them looked so splendid. After the Kiss Naruto suddenly found himself being shaken awake, by Kakashi.

Naruto hopped up shaking his head "Kakashi? What happened? Where are Hinata and Kiba"? Kakashi looked worried at him "did you sleep through the entire ceremony?" Naruto shook his head "no I stayed awake till I saw them kiss, and then after that…"

Kakashi nodded "I see, so how's Anbu treating you?" Naruto shrugged "it's all right, the missions are challenging but I like them that way, the only ones I hate are the-""inhalation missions?" Kakashi filled in.

Naruto nodded "how did you guess?" Kakashi ruffled his fur lightly, "because those are the missions every Anbu hates. Naruto looked at the ground "I just…its weird" Kakashi looked down at him "how so"? He asked. Naruto sighed and leapt into the chair next to Kakashi and sat, Kakashi sat down with him.

"Last night, I had to get rid of this band of thieves, and well in the middle of the fight, something happened, like everything slowed way down, and I heard a single train of thought 'kill, kill, kill' over and over and I did just that I couldn't stop myself or slow down, I was out of control, but in control at the same time, like I was a different person, I don't know I'm so confused."

Naruto put his head down, Kakashi wrapped an arm around him "listen, things like this happen at times, you get caught up in the fight, you have all this adrenaline and you mind will just go blank its actually a basic reflex your brain does so that you won't be able to remember exactly what you did so you are saved from trauma"

Naruto nodded "it makes since, all the thoughts are kind of muddled and misty" Kakashi punched him lightly in the shoulder "see, its normal, now did you feel sick after you were done?" Naruto nodded "I was sick" he added, "good then everything is a okay, it's when you feel no remorse for what you have done that you have to worry".

Naruto nodded, "thank-you Kakashi" he smirked from beneath his mask, "from an senior to a greenhorn like you" Naruto nipped playfully at Kakashi's hand, "don't call me that"! Kakashi laughed fully.

Suddenly Anko appeared, it had been awhile since he had last seen her, and Naruto was shocked to see her with a pregnant belly, "Kakashi? Are you ready yet hon.?" Kakashi nodded and moved to her placing a hand on her stomach and kissing her on the cheek.

Naruto blushed but jumped down "good day Anko" she looked at him curiously, "so your, Fluffy? The Wolf Demon Kakashi mentioned you" Naruto nodded; "I am, but he never mentioned anything about you, you look beautiful" Anko laughed.

She looked over at Kakashi "some people I guess have manners, anyway yes thank-you Fluffy, although I feel like a bloated penguin with the way I walk." Naruto chuckled "you don't, but how far along are you?" she grinned at Kakashi "8 months and another to go!" she happily exclaimed then rubbed her tummy saying, "Ohm, someone's kicking again".

Naruto grinned "so where is the reception?" Kakashi chuckled "you can come with us, were going that way anyway" Naruto walked with Kakashi and Anko (who actually did waddle) Naruto trotted easily, enjoying the fine day.

Anko chuckled and said "you look so very dashing in your outfit Fluffy, tell me where Demons come from?" Naruto looked over to her, "all over, we demons used to be as many as the regular animals there are, but humans one day turned their backs on us, and began to hunt us out of fear".

Anko sighed "I am sorry" Naruto shrugged "it's all right, I know there are good humans as well as bad, just like there are good demons as well as bad ones" Anko was silent for a moment, "but where did you come from"? Naruto quickly thought on his feet.

My father, was a Wolf Demon, my Mother was a White Fox demon, they met one day in the forest and fell in love, I was born latter with my brother, we were happy, as far as I can remember, but then men tracked my father, they seen him use his powers and were afraid, they followed him to the den." He stopped and continued.

"Me and my brother had just opened our eyes two days ago, my mom's fur was white as snow, she smelled like fresh earth, that's all I remember about her, my father was brave and proud, he smelled like the mighty oak trees, my brother, he was black as coal inside and out, and he smelled like ash, but he was still my brother and I loved him."

But the men came with fire and with weapons, my father fought them off while my mother escaped with me and my brother" He paused and looked up to her "she ran far but with us she was slowed down and the men had hate fueling them, suddenly a large shot rang out and she fell, me and my brother were tossed about, my brother hit his head on the rocks and never moved again, I was lucky, I fell into a crevice were the nest of a demon Hawk was, she sheltered me and kept me safe for we were kin."

Naruto continued, "She knew I was in danger of humans so she taught me how to fight and how to take care of myself, but most importantly she taught me how to care for my brothers and how beautiful the world truly can be, I thank that hawk and the teachings she gave me to this day."

Naruto gave a quick glance at Kakashi, "anyway, after that I found an old human man who took me in, and he cared for me, but he was killed also, and then I ran into Hinata and here I am today".

Anko bent down and hugged him her eyes full of tears "you lived such a long and sad life I am so sorry" Naruto sighed "yes well, I am a grown demon and I have learned much, now let's go and celebrate the joining of true love".

Anko waddled on ahead and Kakashi muttered lowly "I like how this 'hawk' who taught you all of this stuff was a girl, Naruto grinned "well, you are quite feminine" Kakashi sighed "well seeing how Anko is pregnant, I would have to say that I am quite Masculine" Naruto snorted, "keep telling yourself that darling" he said before running away from Kakashi who started to chase him.

Naruto, Kakashi, and Anko made it to the reception, while there Naruto planted himself in a spot, he watched everyone dance and enjoy themselves, once he started to get hungry he headed to the food table, Naruto trotted happily over but stopped when he saw the pile of meat on the trey.

Suddenly his eyes misted over and instead of being at a reception in a big fancy hall, he was back in the middle of the combat field standing over a pile of corpses.

He smelled blood and bile instead of flowers and food; he heard pleadings for help and cries of pain instead of music.

Then all of a sudden a shaking on his shoulder snapped him awake, it was Shikamaru "Fluffy, are you all right?" Naruto ran outside to the bushes as he vomited what little was in his stomach.

He then collapsed slightly feverish as he suddenly felt exhausted and sick at the same time, he had not eaten in two days, the medical pain killers were wearing off and he had not slept in four days, he was a mess.

Naruto shook himself to clear his head "I'm okay, I just need a new dose of medicine and something to eat that doesn't remind me of a human _corpse_" he spat and put his head down he moaned.

Shikamaru sat there looking puzzled "um, so food, and painkillers, I think I can get some of that stuff" Shikamaru hurried away.

Shikamaru quickly found Sakura, "hey, do you happen to have any painkillers on you by any chance?" Sakura nodded "I always have a medical bag with me, I'm a medic Nin have to be ready for everything."

Shikamaru stiffened "well, are you prepared for a exhausted demon wolf who can't keep anything down and is low on his pain killers?"

Sakura sighed 'can't he be completely unharmed just once from one of his missions?" she said to no one in particular.

Naruto was asleep by the time Sakura got out there, she carefully began to exam him, she found the problem his stomach was bruised, she quickly healed it, and then gave him a low dose of aspirin and checked everything else, "he should be find, we should move him somewhere so he can't get a cold."

They picked him up lightly and brought him inside, then put him to bed in an unused room.

Naruto woke up the next morning, and stretched he looked around 'where the heck?' he thought then he remembered he fell asleep so someone probably moved him, he walked out people were cleaning up from the reception.

He quickly mad his way home, he snuck in he already knew Hinata and Kiba were (ahem), 'occupied' with each other like all newly weds are so he helped himself to some food and went to visit Kakashi.

* * *

Naruto easily slunk through the window like Jeriyah always would have done. Kakashi was at his desk, going through papers "you missed out last Night Naruto" Naruto sighed, "I know, but I was dog dead tired" he said cringing at the words he just said.

Kakashi let out a small chuckle "well its actually good you're here, I know you're on leave but could you take these request forms to Mammoth?" Naruto nodded "of course" then he paused "what are they for"? Kakashi turned to him "use of Anbu members for security and guardsmen during the Chunin exams, also the request to use the property known as 'the forest of death', which is also owned by Anbu." Naruto looked at him "that sounds like my Chunin exam" he said. Kakashi nodded "yes, I think it is the one that works the best, split into three parts, and it's the most challenging and hardest so I am giving it another test run, if it works like it did last time it will be the way the Chunin exams will run into the future."

Naruto nodded "very nice, now who's all joining this year?" Naruto asked, "Suna, of course, but also Kumo, Bee is their new Raikage" Naruto stared at him "really? Wow that's good for Bee, I knew he would be it, awesome, well I better deliver these."

Naruto leaped off into the morning sky and launched himself towards the Anbu compound, 'his heart racing and his spirits high, Uzumaki Naruto learned to fly' he thought to himself as he remembered his dear comrade and friend Killer Bee, the only other one like him on this planet.

* * *

**Well there is chapter 18 I hope you enjoyed, I think I did good on the fighting scene sorry I wasn't as descriptive as I wanted to be with the wedding but I really just want to move this thing on there is along way to go.**

**from your ever faithful servent,**

**NSW**


	19. Chunin exams

**Chapter 18**

**Life as a Fox**

**NSW**

* * *

**Sorry it took so long, I have been busy with drivers Ed. this is a short chapie, and dosen't hold a lot of action but its better then no chapie at all...**

**...I hope. O.O**

* * *

It was the day of the Chunin exams and everything was in mass chaos, 20 Anbu members were basically controlling and commanding all the other Jounin and keeping crowd control in control. Naruto luckily got a smooth and in the shadows job, he just simply stood outside the entrance to the Kage Box and reported in every so often the status of the situation.

Sadly he was unable to see any fights but he could tell by the roar of the crowd if they were exciting or not, What was interesting was hearing the three Kages talk with one another, they had rather mild conversations it was mostly like any person on the street would talk about, movies, books, weapons, foods, stories, jokes everything.

Hawk appeared before him and stated what was going on, Naruto sighed and knocked on the door, "permission to enter"? He asked an affirmative yes from Mammoth let him enter. Naruto kept his head bowed as he walked to where the Hokage was, "sir Hokage, all is well, however there has been murmurings of a thief in the Noble seating area" Kakashi nodded and turned to Mammoth "send a few Jounin to figure it out, someone with good heads probably Nara Shikamaru and Hyuuga Neji".

Mammoth then nodded to Naruto it was all formal and very time consuming during these times, but formality had to be met. Naruto left and reported to mouse who reported it to Hawk who sent the correct persons to the correct area.

Naruto could over hear the Kages talk Bee spoke first "was that one of the Inuzaka dogs?" Kakashi said "no, that Is Wolf Heart our first Wolf Demon Anbu member" Gaara cleared his throat "wolf demon? Very interesting Kakashi, very few people let alone Hokages would openly trust demons too quickly".

Kakashi spoke next "Gaara have you know shame? You yourself should know how Demons have been mistreated" Gaara sighed "I know, but the fact of the matter is I know how unstable demons can get, how long has he been here?" Gaara asked.

Kakashi cleared his throat, "Hinata found him after the war, don't worry we have thoroughly investigated and tested him, he is quite tame and domesticated, but when it comes to a person in danger then you see how protective and strong he truly is."

Bee spoke, "I don't know about you Gaara, but that Wolf is A-okay in my book, he seems to be a very level headed and intelligent, also he is very polite and seems very I don't know Regal."

Kakashi started to chuckle, "I am sorry Bee-san it's just, the way you describe him seems so different from his true nature, you should see him out of uniform, he's very feisty, and loves to play pranks." Bee snorted "well I could see that, it's so fun to play pranks."

Bee yawned "Man, I am bored, when this is done, we should go back to your office and have a few drinks, have some fun, oh and bring the Wolf Heart by it would be nice to converse with an actual demon".

There was a pause as Naruto could Guess Gaara and Kakashi looked at each other, then Kakashi cleared his throat "umm Bee-san, don't you talk with the 8 tails?" Bee yawned "yeah, but I mean another Demon, that isn't sealed inside of you and stuff".

Naruto shook his head, Suddenly Hawk appeared, "we just got a call reporting's of a bomb threat" Naruto swore and gave two low warning barks which meant 'danger come out now' to Mammoth, Mammoth was out in a second "what?" he whispered harshly "bomb threat" Naruto stated.

Mammoth swore "in what area?" Hawk answered "sector seven" Naruto growled that was the Noble class, "Wolf Heart stay and keep the Kages entertained I will go with Hawk". Naruto nodded and entered the box.

Naruto went to the front of the box where the four hidden Konoha guards were, "Crane, Boar, Snake, and Lizard formation delta now!" he ordered, the four men moved into action Naruto perched on the ledge his senses extending as far as he dared to push them, the four others perched in their direct spots, one on each corner of the box at the ready.

Naruto stayed very still, he sent out pulses of his demonic energy sensing the auras of all that were around him, he could feel the 8 tails respond by pressing out with its own chakra, but Bee stopped it.

Naruto let his mouth hang open slightly as he scented the air, his ears constantly twitching as they picked up each sound. For what seemed like eternity they stayed put on the ledge until Finally Mammoth reported back in "at ease".

Naruto dropped to the floor, "well" he asked "the thief had set up a very large and highly flammable and extremely powerful smoke bomb, it's been assembled very dangerously and has been moved to another area for detonation, now, as you were" Naruto nodded and they moved back to their original positions.

The Chunin exams continued without any problems Naruto was proud to see Konohamaru win his match. After the exams were over The Kages retired to the office and true to his word Kakashi summoned Naruto for conversation.

Naruto entered the office, everyone was out of there formal robes and in regular Ninja wear. Naruto cleared his throat "you summoned me?" he asked. Kakashi looked at him "ah, Fluffy, you can take off the mask and cloak this is a casual visit."

Naruto nodded and began to take his Anbu gear off. Naruto sensed someone gazing intently at him he looked up there was two men standing behind Bee, 'guards' he thought, both wore simple black outfits, one wore glasses and hand his hair cut short, the other was bald and had a scar. But both had dark skin like Bee.

Bee spoke first "so, where do you hail?" he asked Naruto jumped up into a chair and curled himself so he faced them. "Far away in an unclaimed territory next to the Land of Stone, that was where I was born, but life as a demon is hard so I have traveled and moved around till I found safety here."

Bee nodded his head "life as a demon is hard, I mean even having a demon sealed inside you was hard, but to be a real true one? Extremely hard" Naruto nodded "only those of us who can hide good enough survive the rest have fled".

Kakashi spoke 'but I am willing to change that, I offer a safe haven for any and all demons, if they wish to live in peace" Naruto tipped his head "and I thank you for that Hokage you are a saint". Kakashi scoffed "now Fluffy, you giving me to much credit I am just doing what is right."

Naruto nodded "are you related though? To the tailed spirits?" Naruto shook his head "in a way, we are we both have the same powers, only theirs is more great, but we, we are the combination of human and animal in a way, the life-forces and the intelligence of man combined with the strength of the animals. Not only that we also have special privileges that neither man nor animal can obtain".

Naruto yawned, "Kakashi-san if you don't mind, would you poor me a bowl of Coffee, three creamers and two packs of sugar thank-you" Kakashi got up and did so. He looked at the bowl and looked for a place to set it, "on the table right there" Naruto motioned "here" he said setting it down.

Naruto lapped up the coffee and sighed "much better. Now any other questions?" Bee spoke again "back when you were on the alert, something you did affected the 8 tails, what was it"? Naruto answered "that was my chakra signature, the 8 tails sensed a demon nearby, of course it would stir, we are kin, and we meet very rarely in life."

"So you are solitary...ani-..Peo...beings?" Gaara asked. Naruto shook his head "no some of us do stay alone are life, others will find mates and have families, others like Lion demons form prides, Wolf Demons form packs, Horse and Bovine demons form herds, like our animal counter parts but we have a hierarchy and a culture within our groups"

Gaara nodded, "so Demons are like wandering gypsy caravans, they have lots of superstitions around them, some people are frightened by them, some adore them, they have ways and customs to themselves but are mostly peaceful and good" Naruto nodded "I couldn't put it any better, Gaara-sama" Gaara snorted "you don't have to use the sama suffix, I just want to be treated like a normal 18 year old for once".

Naruto nodded and drank some more coffee. "True, all of us wish to be treated normally, but the fact of the matter is, being abnormal, or 'special' seems to be the norm almost everywhere, and no matter who much we try to fight or hide it, we cannot deny who we are".

There was a silence in the room "words of vast wisdom, Fluffy, very vast wisdom" Kakashi said.

Naruto grinned, and then yawned, "I am sorry I cannot stay and speak with you longer, but I must be headed home". Naruto rose and started for the door, "good-night, Fluffy" said Bee, "yes good night" said Gaara nodding as well.

Naruto took one final glance of them 'good night my old friends' he said to himself. "Yes, well night" he said out loud.

* * *

Well there it is, don't worry the next chapter shall have lots of action,Drama,Suspense,and character development...I hope, well at least what I think is character development, if u don't like it...XPPPPP.

NSW


	20. Dognapped!

**Chapter 20**

**Life as a Fox**

**NSW**

* * *

Naruto padded towards home, he yawned while he did so. _'man am I tired'_ he thought as he turned unto the street that led to home. When he saw the house he noticed that it was devoid of life, no one was home. Naruto looked up to the moon's position to see what time it was. _'About 11:00, hnmmm why aren't they home? maybe they went out late with some of the guys, oh well'._

Naruto went into the house, it so happned he was right, Hinata left a note saying they were going to be late coming home. Naruto sighed and placed his gear (which he had carried all the way from the Hokage's office) in the closet with the rest of the Ninja gear the three occupents of the house used.

Naruto yawned and skipped eating he was too tired to eat right now, he had a long and quite boring day and wanted to sleep for a week. So he went into his room, dove into his bed, and buried himself in the blankets without a care in the world.

* * *

_TEIKU P.O.V_

_Teiku had lived in the land of Lightning all his life, and since his family had been one of the many families that had controlled and sealed the eight tails within its sacred jar he felt it was his duty to learn all he could about demons, excspecially ones like the eight tails. But now that it was sealed in its present host who had gained control of the Eight tails, what was his family to do? their meaning in life had been taken, stolen from them, they no longer had a way of life._

_At least that was what he had thought at first, Teiku was one who would not admit defeat, he would not be made a fool of, a mockery if you will, so he turned to science, and instead now studied that which his familly has always done, Demons, he wanted to know everything about them, how they thought, how they fought, how they lived, and bred, where they trully magical? or just sly tricksters? were the stories about them true? the myths the legends? He wanted to know, no he NEEDED to know._

_Teiku had to search far and wide for any information at all, but finally he found some, and that little he did find did not slake his hunger for knowledge, it only made him hungrier. But now the fates had turned his way, here in Konoha was a live, young, Wolf Demon, and one who spoke common toungue, already his mind was a buzz with many questions, how did it speak in human toungue? how did it learn? how does this creature own a chakra network? where does the magic stop and biology begin?._

_Teiku could not let this chance slip, no, he **would** not let this chance slip, he **would** get that demon. Teiku had always served his country noblely, and always loved to be a ninja, he was honored to even accompany the Raikage to the Chunin exams, but now his loyalty was devided, between his internal drive in life, and his outward. _

_Like any man, he chose his internal for it has always been that which was on the inside made a man, and for him on the inside he was a man driven, no consumed by want. The want and the need to know his enemy, the demons, the last things on this earth that made any being shiver with fear. _

* * *

_Teiku grinned as he tapped the syringe lightly, 'the perfect amount' he thought to himself. He left his hotel room quietly, slipping silently through the shadows of the streets. It was a cooler night, the kind were people wanted to be with others inside, surrounded the warmth of friends._

_It was quite easy to figure out where the demon lived, the foolish Hokage had given away precious information, one name, 'Hinata', he had casually then filtered through the files of the Konoha ninja registration to find that Hyuuga Hinata, (now a Inuzaka Hinata), was the only one in Konoha. So he commited the address to memory and put everything back where it was, then left._

_Now he stood in the middle of an empty street staring at the dark house, he knew the demon was in there he sensed that same powerful chakra leaking from one of the rooms. Teiku crept towards the house, he hide his chakra signiutre and calmed his beating heart. Which was excited because it knew his dream was soon to be realized._

_He opened the door carefully, greasing the hinges with chakra so they did not make a sound. He entered the building, walking lightly on his footsteps barely making a sound, which made the silence deafening to him. Down the hallway he headed towards the strengthining chakra signiture, he passed by several pictures on the wall, he glanced at one, a pale skinned female wearing a wedding gown, stood with a tanned male with spiky brown hair._

_The demon stood in front of the two, looking directly at the camera, he could see it had some bandages upon it, which would explain the faded healing scars it bore while it was in the office. He adjusted his glasses and continued on, finally what seemed like hours he made it to the door._

_He could hear the demon snore slightly while it slumbered. timing the opening of the door with the demons snores he opened while the demon made his noises. Just a little at a time, sometimes opening just barely a centimeter at a time, he opened the door fully._

_The demon had a bed,a rug, a lamp, a window, it had everything a human had in its bedroom, Teiku had to fight back a snort, it was rediculus, how this Hinata had treated this creature, as if it were a **human**. Teiku crept towards the demon, he was halfway accross the room when a draft of air started to push the door shut, slowly it let out a high pitched 'new house' screech as it pitched to the right several inches._

_Suddenly two Blue luminecent eyes lit up the darkness, Teiku sighed inwardly as they focused on him. A rumbling growl filled the room as the demon started to rise "who are you? why are you here"? it spat. Teiku grinned, "who I am is not your concern, why I am here?..." he paused as he held up the syringe "well, that's an intirely diffrent matter"._

_The demons eyes narrowed at the sight of the syringe, "do not underestimate me **human**" it said. Then a curious substance formed from it's open jaws. It grew then leaped upon him in the form of a large ghostly Wolf. Teiku was taken by suprise and was pushed back with such a force it made him go crashing through the door splintering it in half, and he was stopped by a wall which he felt give beneath his body mass._

_Teiku grunted as he pulled himself out of the wall, The demon was already upon him, he qickly knocked the demon back with a well aimed chakra strengthened punch to the shoulder. The demon landed on its paws and slid down the hall way its claws digging into the floor, creating long gouges in the floor._

_Teiku tutted the demon, "now, now, Hinata won't like that you treating her new floors like that". The demon was taken by suprise when he said this, "how do you know Hinata? where is she!" Teiku snorted, "like I have an Idea?, I have done nothing to her, I was just stating a simple fact of truth, you know how women are, well then again maybe not, since you are not a human, you mearly imitate one."_

_He saw a spark of anger burn in those eyes, the demons lips pulled back to their farthest, Teiku had to admit, he did feel a slight tremor of fear run down his spine when he met such a freightning sight. Teiku reached into his cloak and pulled out a Kunai and secretly he pulled out a smoke bomb, one was a distaction the other was what he needed._

_He threw the Kunai, hitting a glass vase that held flowers. The vase was just above the demons head sitting on a hallway table. The demon jumped away from the flying glass. while he did this Teiku threw the smoke bomb, a highly effective one he personally designed, ontop of smoke, he put within it pepper gas, and to anyone caught within it, it served as a higly effective weapon that caused pain and stopped and lowered a targets mobility and accuracy._

_Already he could hear the demons coughing and sputtering as the Pepper gas burned the throat and lungs, and he could hear the slight whimperings as it took effect in the eyes. Teiku slipped a cloth over his nose and mouth, as the smoke started to spread and dissapate._

_He could see the demon trying to rub his eyes with a fore paw, 'stupid creature, it only makes it worse'. Teiku lunged forword syringe in hand ready to fnish this, but at the last second the demon must have regained some of its composure and it ducked beneath his swing and turned it's body. Large jaws filled with long sharp dangerously curved fangs reached up and closed around him. Teiku moved away fast enough so his leg was saved, but the jaws clamped down on his cloak tearing it._

_This was the best chance he would get, He quickly buried the Syringe into the demon, then injected the liquid inside that would make the demon fall into a deep sleep, long enough for Teiku to transport him to a place where the demon could be studied thoroughly._

* * *

_Naruto P.O.V_

Naruto felt the sharp pain of something puncturing him, but the instant he felt the cold fluid enter his bloodstream he knew he was in trouble. Any sleeping drug starts to take effect right away, and concidering his motabilism and body weight, and also the fact his heart beat was accelerated, it would work even...faster.

Already he felt the jet lag feeling, his thoughts started to become muddled, the grip on the fabric became weaker, he fueled some of the strength that he had left that had not been sapped by this drug back into his jaws. He tore away the fabric, a large chunk fell to the ground. He lunged for the leg, he bit down as hard as he could at the moment, he felt fabric, flesh, then finally the satisfing taste of blood. But after that bittersweet taste fell upon his lips, his vision went black, and he was lost.

* * *

Teiku P.O.V

The demon collapsed just shortly after injection, just to make sure Teiku kicked the demon lightly a few times to see if it was out, it was. Teiku bent down and began to wrap his leg, he had about five to six hours to get this demon out of here.

Teiku quickly removed the syringe, and put it into his pocket without looking and hauled the demon onto his back. He turned for the back door and left in a hurry. However if had not been in a hurry he would have noticed that the pocket he put the syringe in had a hole in it from when Naruto ripped the chunk out of his cloak, he also would have cleaned up the blood he had bled on the floor and the peice of cloak Naruto tore away. Like the old saying goes, haste makes waste, and little did Teiku know he left behind a lot of waste.

* * *

Hinata and Kiba arrived home, happily, but the moment Hinata spotted shattered glass glistening in the moonlight, she turned on the kitchen lights as fast as she could, she looked at the floor, and the hall way and screamed.

Kiba was by her side in an instant, Akamaru growled feircly at the hallway. Kiba ran down the hall to Naruto's room, he saw the broken door and the indented wall and knew there was a fight, he called out Naruto's name several times but no answer, he walked back down the hall slowly trying to access what had happned.

He spotted blood, a few small drops and a torn peice of a cloak, Kiba ran to the supplies closet, Naruto's cloak and mask where in there perfectly in tact. Kiba knew of only one thing he could do, since they both lived with Anbu member they had been given the special privilege of holding a 'red letter' a red letter was a special summoning bird made out of paper that would fly directly to the Anbu general.

Once there the general would be able to tell in his own private way who owned this letter, and he would immediatly go to where he was called. This was a system that had started long ago, it was in case something happned to that said Anbu member, it was usually given to the closest people of the Anbu member.

Kiba knew the instructions, they were simple. He placed it on the table, he glanced at Hinata who held herself, a far away loook in her eyes. "Hinata" he said simply, bringing her out of her induced coma, "be strong" he said, she nodded a single tear falling, "I know, its just sometimes, I go back to the times I could do nothing."

He smiled softly, "there was never a time like that, you always could do the most amazing stuff and not even realize it", Hinata smiled softly, "I love you Kiba", he nodded. "I know" was all he answered before he placed his chakra into the simple red paper, it began to fold in on itself, and soon formed itself into a small bird about the size of a hummingbird and flew off out of the windown and into the night.

Hinata and Kiba waited for only a few minutes when suddenly a man came hurtuling through their open window and landed croched on the floor in front of them. "you summoned me?" he asked. Kiba stared at him for a moment then snapped himself out of it, "Fluffy is missing, and it looks as though there was some sort of fight".

The man stood, and walked past them and stopped and accessed the hall way, "you're sure he is gone?" he suddenly asked, "yes" Hinata spoke. "did you see anything?" Hinata shook her head "no, sir, we just came home a few minues ago, and I noticed the broken vase and the hall way."

The man turned to them, "I am Mammoth, the Anbu General, I will be calling a few of my men to gather the evidence, please be patiant." Hinata nodded, "of course", True to his word suddenly there entire kitchen was filled with six or so Anbu members, each of them were meticulously going through every inch of the hallway and Naruto's room.

Finally Mammoth spoke to them, "from what the evidence shows, Wolf Heart...Fluffy as you call him, has been kidnapped." The new's alone made Hinata find the nearest chair and drop herself into it. "why"? she said to no one in perticular. "We are not sure of the motive right now, not until we find out who has done it first, we beleive the blood in the hallway belongs to the person who did this."

Hinata grabbed Kiba's hand for strength, "but Fluffy,...he would have never been taken so easily, the house would have been torn apart!" Mammoth sighed, "I know this is hard for you, and even I agree with you but we found this syringe here, and we beleive during the fight the suspect must have some how injected Wolf Heart with what appears to be a very powerful anesthetic."

Hinata nodded, "so that means, it had to be someone who knows something about medicine, someone who was trained a bit at least anyway". Mammoth was silent, you could see the eyes behind the mask staring wildly at Hinata, "thats it!" he turned to the other Anbu in the house, "why aren't you thinking like this girl! use your brains! think, who would have the ability to fight off a Anbu trained demon?".

There was a silence then one spoke, "another Anbu?" Mammoth turned to the person, "is that a question or an answer?", the man cleared his throat and said firmer "another Anbu", "correct, and I can already tell by the look of the fabric it is not one of us."

The man who had the fabric held it to compare it to his own cloak, "its heavier meterial then ours, and has slight soil residue, not clay, but dark sand." Mammoth nodded, "anything else?" "dark sand is usually found in mountinous regions, its mountian rock eroded down, and the heavier meterial means the perosn lives or works in a wetter or colder area."

Mammoth nodded "excellent Rabbit, now, who can tell me what country, has mountians and a colder climate and has Anbu stationed in the village?" there was an instant our roar of six people saying "Lightnng!". Mammoth chuckled "very good, I want you to tag and bag this evidence, then I want you all to go and collect any and all Kumo ninja, even the Genin and quarintine them in the Hokage tower's Missions administration room, and keep them guarded all times, if they ask, say we have had a attack on a importent member of this village and evidence points to Kumo, and the situation will be striegtned out between the Raikage and Hokage."

All of them nodded, "now hurry up and move out!" all six said "hai sir!" and a flurry of movement happned as all of them began to finish what they were doing and left. Soon Hinata and Kiba were alone, "come on" Kiba said taking Hinata "lets go to Sakura and Lee's place."Hinata nodded and followed him out the door, Hinata prayed to Megumi the demon goddess, she didn't know pertucularily how to pray to this goddess, the preists never taught anything about the 13th goddess, but she did so anyway hoping it was good enough for her.

* * *

When Mammoth told the news of what happened, to Kakashi, he immedietly agreed with everything that Mammoth had planned, and they together both sent out a few teams to gather any and all Kumo nin. The Raikage of course was awakened and ordered to appear before the Hokage, Bee entered looking confused, worried, and slightly angry.

"yo man! what the hell is going on! why you have all my bro's locked away and keys thrown away?", Kakashi sighed "I'm am sorry Bee-san to inform you, but one of you ninja has kidnapped Wolf Heart". Bee stopped dead in his tracks, "what! when! how? why!" Mammoth stated flatly, "we have all of those answered, we just need the 'who' part then we will be good."

Just then one of Bee's body guards came in, "sir! I can't find Teiku anywhere! he hasn't reported in!" Bee looked at him, "when was the last time you saw him?", the man paused momentarily, "after we got back to the hotel, I went in to the bathroom, came back out he was gone."

Mammoth turned tot he man, "does this Teiku, have any Medic Nin training?" the man looked to Bee to see if it was okay to answer to Mammoth "spill the beans" Bee said. The man nodded slightly confused at what his kage just said.

"yes, Teiku has taken advanced courses in medic training, but what he really accels in is Biological chemistry." Kakashi salmmed his fist into the desk, cracking it, "you mean, Wolf heart was taken to be some cruel scientific exporement!" he roared making every man except Mammoth momentarily afraid of him.

Even Bee turned an angry shade, "dammit! and I had a mother fuicker like that for a body guard!" there was a silence, "Mammoth" Kakashi spoke, his voice softer now, "go tell your men to let the Kumo nin go, they to are victims."

Mammoth nodded "of course, Hokage, but if I may ask how so?" Kakashi looked out to the Hokage monument, "they are victims of betrayal by there own comrade". Bee spoke "if I where to speak Kakashi-san, I wish to go and talk to my men, and tell them myself".

Kakashi nodded "as you wish Bee-san, you are probably one of them men hurt worse by this man Teiku", Bee shoke his head, "no, Wolf Heart is". then he turned and left for the door, his bald body guard trailing behind him.

* * *

Bee walked into the room where about 25 of his men, Jounin teachers, and Genin even a few Anbu stood in confusion, they all bowed to him as he entered "all right I have an announcement, first off, there is not going to be a war of any sorts, Konoha has justified there actions ten fold, in the end all of us have been hurt by what has happned, my personal body guard, the man I hand picked to guard me, because I trusterd him, has gone rougue and has kidnapped and taken a very importent ninja of this village."

There was a silence, "Bee-sama, is it one of their clan heads? or one of the elders? who is this importent that has caused such a reaction?", Bee sighed "it was a Anbu member Wolf demon, one I personally met with on this very night a few short hours ago, that is who is so importent, he's irriplaceable and a key fator of this village, he was the begining to a whole new era of peace between man and Demon, and now, that dream may be ruined because of one person."

With that Bee walked out of them room, to him this was a personal blow, he could never imagine something so dark and twisted to happen, someone he TRUSTED did this, to a person who was just like him in so may ways.

His men stared after him, all of them knew how personal this was to Bee, he is a person who has to wake up everyday knowing that there is something sealed inside of him that is not human. But Bee has proved that just because something is not one of us does not mean it is evil, all of them knew the importence of building back bonds with the demon kind, it was one of Bee's goals for his village as well.

* * *

Kakashi sat before Mammoth, "I have a team in mind" said Mammoth, "and so do I" said Kakashi, "Nara Shikamaru, Hyuuga Neji, and Inuzaka Kiba, you will replace three of your team with them." Mammoth was silent for a moment he had never been told so bluntly what to do, he had to admit he liked this guys style.

"of course sir, but my I ask why?" Kakashi sighed, "he's going to need some people he's close to, some people can't always be saved by unknown people in masks, those three are the best and brightest of his closest friends, and somthing tells me your going to need a tracker, a genious, and a person who can see everything."

Mammoth smiked beneath his mask, "very well, I'll let them come, I'll have my men here in half an hour, you have yours as well, then I'll debreif them together." Kakashi nodded "good plan" Mammoth suddenly spoke freely, "you know its a good thing to have an ex-Anbu member as Hokage, wolves always make excellent leaders."

Suddenly Mammoth disappeared, Kakashi sighed, "Wolf huh?, ...its been a long time since someone called me by my Anbu name, course this wolf would have learned nothing if it wasn't for a certian wooly vetern for taking the wolf under his tusk, you sure do have a weakness for wolves mammoth."

* * *

**ahhh...fianlly done, the cool thing is, I wrote this in four hours! I IS AWESOME!(when I want to be).**

**anyway I hope you enjoyed, and before anyone asks, I have no idea what Kakashi's real Anbu name was(i named him wolf because I thought it was cool and it fits plus it explains why naruto is 'wolf heart' because there cannot be two anbu named the same, and techniqlly kakashi still alive so that means his name is in 'use'), it is a mystery that will never be solved until it is reveled to us in a flashback of some sort.**

**NSW**


	21. What madness is this?

**Chapter 21**

**Life as a Fox**

**NSW**

* * *

Naruto's world slowly started to come together, half thoughts and recollections formed across the landscape of his mind, slowly the clouded haze lifted, feeling started to drift slowly back into his limbs. He felt cold, cold and heavy, he was lying on something hard and flat, it could be the floor, but it wasn't, he felt elivated, ah that was it he was on a table, a metal table.

He cracked his eyes open, he saw a movement of white in front of him, a person, tall, light blonde hair pulled back in a bun, with bangs framing her face, black eyeliner edged green eyes. She wore a white lab coat and was writing down something on a metal clip board, Naruto glanced around slowly, there was several people, all of them wore white lab coats, three men were at a computor, most of the others seemed to be preping and organizing different tools.

The women glanced down, she quickly whistled, everyone stopped what they were doing and gathered eagerilly around her, she got out a recording mic and began to speak eagerilly into it with a monotone voice. "subject has awoken and seems to be slightly dazed and confused, however subject does not show any signs of distress or wild behavior."

Naruto tried to move but could not, he looked to see that he was strapped down quite snuggly to the table, he could only move his head three inches off the table. He looked around at all the people all of them had the same almost hungry in awe look. "where am I"? he said, gasps all around, "it can speak it can speak!" there was a flurry of movement as people began to write things down.

The women stepped up to him, "do you have a name?" she asked, "my name is Wolf Heart, Konoha elite Anbu member, now where am I"? he stated harder. The women giggled in delight, "such a find! the scientific community will be very pleased". Naruto growled "I am speaking plain human where the hell am I!" he roared, trying to snap at her.

She backed away, "oh my, its advancments in the human speech is dead center, its almost as if it can think like a human which is propusterous concidering the underdevelopedness of the frontal lobe." Naruto growled "I'll show you underdeveloped you blonde nit wit". The smirked, "interesting, it has full color vision."

Naruto sighed and closed his eyes trying to concentrate his chakra, warning beeps went off, and suddenly he felt elecricity pulse through him halting his efforts immeietly. "I wouldn't do that again, we can't have our beautiful creature escaping now can we? thats why we used these prison chains, usually ment for ninja behind bars, it halts their chakra flow, but we find it quite usefull in keeping our demon alive."

Naruto growled "I am not yours, I am a Ninja of the village hidden in the leaves! and even they do not own me, I am my own spirit!". He snapped, she smirled and waved him off, "your rambling will not do you any good, you will be with us for probably the rest of your days so get used to it".

Naruto growled lowly, ignoring the pain of the chakra restraints he concentrated just enough to break the chain that secured his shoulders, he lunged out as far as he could at her, grabbing whatever with his jaws, he ended up grabbing the clip board, he didn't care he tore it from her hands, while three men suddenly appeared pushing him back down to the table, he started to wrestle with them but to no avail, he had limited mobility and strength so he ended up being rechained again, he growled and dropped the Clip board that was dented and had holes where his teeth punctured through.

The scientists stared in amazment at this feat, the women seemd to be slightly shaken, then a dark look pooled into her eyes, "strap that thing down tight! and put a muzzle on it! and get men armed with shock poles! we'll have to break this demons spirit I guess". Naruto closed his eyes and let them do what they wanted, no matter what no one could break his spirit.

* * *

Shikamaru,Neji, and Kiba stood facing Kakashi and a man known as Mammoth, three other men in cloaks and masks stood next to them. Akamaru sat panting next to Kiba, a samll strand of drool fell from his larage mouth. Mammoth spoke "the six of you will track down the kidnapper and aprehend him and rescue Wolf Heart." No one moved as Mammoth took a pause, Mammoth continued "the man's name is Waya Teiku, he is classified now as a S-rank nin in the bingo book."

All of them nodded knowing the severity of the mission, "you, Inuzaka, your one of the best trackers? is that correct?" Kiba nodded, "I would know Fluffy's scent anywhere", Mammoth nodded, "good, you are probably the most importent member of this team, however Vulture here will be lead in command, meaning you will do as he says, all of you is that clear?" all three of them nodded.

Mammoth nodded his head slightly "good, move out", all of them turned and quickly left, hitting a dead run as soon as they exited the tower, Kakashi watched after the seven blurs(seven because of Akamaru), "if not for my duties I would be there with you" he said, then sighed as he looked at his desk full of paper work, "why can't I hire an idiot assitant to do all these dumb forms".

Mammoth chuckled "I would say my job is a lot more better then yours, I can basically grab any man to be an office assitant I actully do it as a form of punishment sometimes." Kakashi got a glint in his eye, "very good idea, I'm going to go see if I can find someone worth punishing." Mammoth smiled from ear to ear beneath his mask as his old comrade in arms, the very one he taught all those years ago, and his best friends son walked out of the office, "like father like son eh Sakumo?".

* * *

Naruto howled in agony as pain ripped through every fiber of his being, he couldn't stop the sounds even if he wanted to, it was too much, they had gone to far. His internal clock told him he had been here at least two days, and in those two days they had ran almost every test imaginalble. Blood tests, tissue samples tests, he had fluid form his eye drawn by a large needle and they ran test on that, they gave him x-rays and other kinds of scans, they completlly photographed every square inch of his anatomy and were now studying it on the computer moniters.

But then they wanted more, they wanted to run more tests on diffrent kinds of demons, and that was when the Interigation began, he had not given away anything, because of two reasons, he didn't know of any other besides Gomeg, and he certianlly wasn't going to sell out his friend and because he would never give in to there demonds, he couldn't do a thing about the blood and tissues but the mental information that they wanted, no they could never get that, never.

But now they were doing something completly unheard of to Naruto, he had a small reackoning that they were doing this also to get him to crack but he wouldn't. The deed that they were doing that was causing this unbearable pain, was this, Bone Marrow samples, while he was AWAKE. The drill bit stung like nothing he had ever felt before, the pain you could not describe, fianlly his body just passed out from it which was a sweet release for him.

He awoke later on, he knew not how long he was out, he was too tired, and hurt to care. At least they had the decancy to wrap his arm. He looked over at the Blonde scientist, she seemed ot be the head leader when Teiku wasn't around. Oh yes, Teiku himself introduced himself to him, and also ran a few tests as well. Anger boiled in Naruto's stomech, speaking of food he was quite hungry, they only fed him now and then, but not alot.

The blonde female walked over, "well now somebody has had a rough day, I bet your hungry right?" Naruto found himself nodding, she smirked, "well I have this nice juicy steak here" she said snapping her fingers, a younger male Naruto had not seen before stepped foreword, he was about 16 or 17, and had short brown hair, and was tanner then most.

The boy stared at him with a mixture of fear and curiosity, and a hint of sadness. Naruto looked levellly back at him. "now this steak could be all yours if you just tell me one teensy little bit of information" Naruto glanced at her, but the scent of the steak hit his nostrils causing him to salvate. "where are your kind hiding"? she asked, Naruto spoke calmly, "I told you already, they fled, and the ones that have stayed hide themselves from other demons". Her eyebrow twitched, "then how is your race surviving! we know you are out there! when do you come together then? huh? mating season!".

Naruto shrugged, "do I look like I know?", she slapped him hard, "yes you do, you openly told your kage, and the Raikage that some demons from packs and herds, where are they!", Naruto said slowly but with heaviness, "they are gone. they have feld to a place far away form humans. because they are smart enough to know better."

She smirked, "then what about you, why did you join with humans?", Naruto sighed "because there is some good within some humans, and I am lucky enough to find those humans that act on the goddness in them, rather then the wikedness." She frowned and furrowed her brow, she sighed angerilly and stalked away.

She whistled "all right everyone take a night off, its not going to go anywhere anyway." everyone left, accept the teen holding the steak, "umm... exuse me, I would like to give you some food, but if I do please don't hurt me." Naruto nodded, "I promise, please would you remove the muzzle?" the boy sighed "I can't I'm sorry, but I can slide it into your mouth at the very edge."

Naruto nodded, he hated this muzzle it was completly metel and only had small holes in random places to let in air, but it was quite small he could barely open his jaws at all only enough to get some water that they poured into his mouth via a tube at the very edge of the muzzle. And it also only allowed him to talk but it was very limited. The boy ripped off chunks of the steak, and began to feed it through, Naruto could feel the warm meat slide into his lips, being careful not to snap he quickly flicked his toungue over to retreive the meat.

The boy looked over his shoulder, as he fed in meat, Naruto finally stopped him, "too much and I will get sick." the boy nodded, "I better get going anyway, they'll be looking for me", "who are you?" Naruto asked "I'm, Waya Tomi, Teiku is my uncle...sorry" he said flatly. Naruto shrugged, "its nice to meet you Tomi, I'm Wolf Heart, but you can also call me Fluffy." Tomi smiled, "nice to meet you Fluffy, I have to go".

"WAIT"! Naruto yelled, Tomi jumped "sorry, but where am I?" he asked. "oh! your in the land of Hot springs, my family has owned land here for generations." Naruto nodded "good thank-you Tomi, you may go if you wish". Tomi nodded and ran to the door, "I'll cya tommorow Fluffy" he said before leaving. Naruto sighed and closed his eyes, "come on people hurry up and find me!". he said to himself as he closed his eyes for some much needed sleep.

* * *

Kiba and Akamaru worked tediously, the kidnapper Teiku did coverup some of his sent but not Naruto's, so he was able to track him by that, they were apperently headed towards a small country called the land of Hot springs, Kiba has been there a few times on various missions, but other then that, there wasn't much else.

They moved as fast as they could to reach the country, he was even able to trace Naruto's scent to a rather large town but after that, the scent was lost to the smells of the town. "he's somewhere here" their leader looked at him, "can you not narrow it down a bit?" Kiba growled "no, do you know how many smells are here? everyday? and all of them are being replaced everyday, it was a wonder his scent had died out on the road, at least I gave you a basic area".

The man sighed gruffly, "fine then, we'll have to go into information gathering mode, first thing is first, lost the hatei-ate" all of them nodded and took theirs off. They walked into town the Anbu members had taken off their cloaks and masks, Vulture their leader was a tall man with scars under his eyes and on his noes which did give him a menacing but bird like look.

The next man, was shorter and stockier, but had a large stomech, but he also was muscular. He grinned at all the ladies in town, "Panda control yourself" said Vulture, Panda shrugged "what I like the ladies, sue me" he said shrugging "we are on a mission, to rescue Fluffy, you alone should know how serious this is". Shikamaru glanced at the other man that spoke, he was tall but not as tall as Vulture and more wider though not as wide as Panda. "oh come on Rooster, when we took our last test for Anbu, wasn't it Fluffy who decided to go off and stay at Gomegs place?".

Rooster glared at Panda, "that was because I was injuried dummy! and that badger was my only hope", "and who's fault was that I wonder"? asked Panda. Afew anger marks appeared on Rooster, "at least I did something!" "BOTH OF YOU SHUT-UP" yelled vulture glaring down his nose at them, both silenced and looked away from each other.

" wait, so you were on the final test with Fluffy"? Kiba asked, both nodded. "he told me about you guys then, and how you lost your leader...Toyi?" both had a sad expression for a few seconds, "yeah, we always called him 'the runt' during Taijutsu practece, he was the smallest...human in the class." Kiba nodded, "I see...hey, how did you guys spar with him anyway?...Fluffy I mean".

Both looked at each other, "very carefully, he can't really punch, but he can spin his body and flip it in a way so when he does hit the force is equal to the of a punch, and he has his 'iron jaws' to attack with as well, so you have to from either behind or above, but he still can defend against his weaknesses pretty damn well."

Kiba nodded, "I taught him that stuff, the spinning and twirling anyway, he gets it from our signiture attack." Panda smiled, "well you did good, so what the plan boss?" he said directing the last part to Vulture, "we are getting a hotel room, then I am going to go see if I can dig up some information on the Waya family."

All of them nodded and followed him to a Hotel called the Dancing Dragon, downstairs was a room used by all guests that was a bar/ entetainment area, with a small stage in the corner, and a fireplace on the far wall. The hostess looked at them "how many rooms and for how many nights?" she was an older women some grey just starting to appear in her hair, her voice was hoarse with age and for having to speak and yell loudly to run her buisness.

Vulture set some money down "two rooms for one week". the women counted the money, and nodded, leading them up the stairs to two rooms at the end of the hall, "one room on the left, the other the right, supper is at 6:30, you can choose to have it delivered upstairs or with the rest, if you want a wake-up call please leave your name, room number and time on the sign-up sheet by the entrance". She then handed them the keys to the rooms and bowed to them and left.

Vulture turned to them, "you three take the room on the left, we will take this room." the group split their ways and went into their rooms, The three of them stopped when they noticed there was only two beds, Kiba sighed "I 'll sleep on the floor with Akamaru". Neji went to the far bed, "I choose this one". Shikamaru plopped his stuff down on the last reamining bed.

Once they had switched into civilian wear, which was just simple Black pants and a shirt, Shikamaru choose grey, Kiba choose black and Neji choose white.(for shirt colors). Kiba then got out a coller and leash for Akamaru, "come on bud, lets go for a walk". Akamaru barked, Neji glared att he dog, "that thing better not bark at night."

Kiba shrugged "only if something moves, so don't toss aorund so much k"? Neji rolled his pupiless eyes. Shikamaru lit a cigarette, "I thought you were going to quit?" Kiba asked, Shikamaru shrugged "nah, I like it to much". Kiba sighed, "okay, but remember Sakura is going to nag you to death if she see's you", Shikamaru shrugged "let her, I'm good at ignoring her, but I odn't know how lee puts up with it."

Kiba shrugged "thats because Lee is hopelessly in love with her." Shikamaru shivered, "I don't know why, Sakura is nice and all, but she's super scary at times, I mean remember when Naruto had that crush on her"? all of them laughed "yeah, didn't seem to long ago, anyway that is kinda out the window for obvious reasons".

Shikamaru paused, "you think Naruto ever will find love though? I mean lets say a female Demon comes along, do you think it would work?" Kiba shrugged "I don't know, Naruto still views himself in a human perspective, he might not, he might see her as an animal" Neji shook his head "no, Naruto wouldn't view...wait a second this isn't even happening! Naruto hasn't even met another Demon save for Gomeg the badger and the Biju."

Kiba nodded "right right, I mean we still have to rescue him for petes sake, why are we standing here talking about him?" Shikamaru nodded "right come on, lets go" all of them then walked out and began to look for any evidence or information on Fluffy and and the Waya family.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed, please review**

**NSW**


	22. The Rescue

**_Chapter 22_**

**_Life as a Fox_**

**_NSW_**

**Okay first off I have received some messeges and some reviews about my grammer, first off I am a 17 year old girl I am not an author, these stories are for fun and for my enjoyment, if I hear anymore 'complaints' about my grammer, I am seriously thinking of not finishing the story, I am TRYING my best, I read through each chapter several times, before I never even did that, so just be thankful.**

**Now that we have that cleared up let the story continue.**

* * *

Naruto's life couldn't have sunk any lower. He was hungry, and cold, he was in pain and he felt so weak, he was to the point of exhaution. His mind played tricks on him from lack of energy, he would see things that weren't really there, his mind felt clouded. It was like his body was shutting done on him and he couldn't control it, he neither had the energy nor the will to do so.

Suddenly there was a flurry of movement at the door, the blonde lead in a group of well dressed people, the men wore suits and fancy robes while the women wore beautiful Kimono's. Most of them were middle aged or older, and had streaks of white in their hair.

She lead them right up to him, "and this is what your generous donations have given us, a show before you a live demon wolf." One man studied him scrutinly, "hah! how do we know he's a demon?" The women turned to Naruto and brought her face within centimeters of his, like he could do anything, he was chained and muzzled tightly, "speak", she commanded.

Naruto said nothing, hoping that if he remained silent, they would take her for a fool. But to no avail, she snapped her fingers, and Instantly Naruto knew what would happen, they would put copious amounts of voltage through him and keep at it till he did what they wanted him to do.

Naruto gave in after ten seconds, he wished he could hold out longer but the pain was too much for him anymore. "allright! I am speaking happy now?" he yelled. The voltage stopped, and the women smiled victoriously, she turned back to the robed people, "see?".

All of them conferred with one another in a series of hushed conversations, "come, let us speak somewhere more comfy and in private" she said extending a hand out leading them away form him, 'good riddence' Naruto thought to himself as he delt with the stinging sensation that came form being electrucuted for a few seconds.

* * *

Usumi Suki, lead her visitors into a side room that was the workers 'break' area, which happned to be cleaned and re arranged just for this purpose, it had a large window overlooking the lab, so they could see what was going on. Suki happened to look out and see her newest errend boy ,Teiku's nephew, who became an orphan recently. She watched him hurridely go over to the creature and give it some water, slipping it through a small tube on the side of the muzzle.

Suki sighed that boy was getting on her nerves, Teiku and her were supposed to have children of their OWN one day, not take in a teenage brat from Teiku's kid sister who got sick and died, the father of course ran away a long time ago, so he had to come here, it irritated her, but no matter, he would turn 18 in a few years and be out of her hair.

She turned her head to present matters, "so as you can see, we can now move foreword and began phase two, all it will need is the same donation as settled before hand." Some of the Nobles looked at each other then to her, one fianlly spoke as 'leader' of the group.

"Its not that we don't appreciate what you have done, we are greatly amazed at this feat, the opens many doors, but they are doors none of us are permitted to enter, if the Fire Daimyo finds out about this, our heads and lands would be confiscated, the Village of the hidden leaves, the Fire Daimyo's capital and his favorite cirty has proclamied that demons are to be our allies, both Wild and Summoning, in fact I have heard that this demon IS form Konoha."

She nodded not hiding anything, they gasped, "you took that demon? right underneathe Konoha's nose?" she nodded "well not me personally, but someone I work for". The nobles looked at weach other in disbeleif, "have you no shame?" one older man said.

Anger sparked in Suki, "Shame? Shame? I will telly ou shame! shame is when all us humans have to obey and fear creatures that are beneath us! shame is having to build 'contracts' and 'friendships' with creatures that are not natural, it should be our duty as a race to capture these creatures and bend them to our will! we are the gods greatest creations! none are supposed to be our equals! WE dominate the world not them!".

There was a silence, then the same man spoke, he was a retired Samurai training general, he stood back straight and shoulders back, his eyes crystal clear and sharp as a hawks, his nose was hooked like a falcons, his hair was pulled back up in a tight top knot and his small beard on the point of his chin was perfectly groomed and oiled.

"You need to know your place, everyone in this world is born where they were meant to be, and only though hard work, and the gods grace can they acend to the highest they can, all of us have limitation, we are ordained under heavens rule, and anyone who tries to do otherwise will fail." he paused and cleared his throat "'for the bird that tries to swim with the fishes will surely drown'."

He eyed her like a predator would his pray. "what you are saying, is that you as yourself should command and own creatures that only the Daimyo should be permitted to own, creatures that have willingly gave their services to people they deem worthy, what good would come of this? we have always built contracts and bonds with them! why change now? our way has never failed before."

All the nobles nodded with this man's wisdom, Suki held back as much anger as she could, "that is the point, why is it only a select few may own them, why is it only certain amount of demons living in the spirit world while others...like that one-" She said pointing towards the Wolf "is a race of their own kind running rampant on our earth? why is that? dosen't it freighten you? dosen't it worry you? what if these demons decide to take us over? what if they decide to fight? what would happen then? no one knows exactly what they can do! know one knows how many there are! and do you think the summoning demons would fight for us against their kin? NO! that is why we need to take control of them now while we have the chance!."

The man stood strong, he said nothing he waited for her to be over, "that time, will never be upon us, if the dmeons wanted to take control they would have done it when we humans were few and they many, instead they extended their hands in friendship instead of raising them up for war, the demons that are 'wild' are the ones who prefer to keep their own ways alive, their is nothing to fear of them, well at least now their is, you have captured one and have held it against its will, the demons will not look kindly to you, and if I would have known now what I know then I never would have granted you that loan, I will not mar my face with this shame, so I bid you farwell."

With that he left, his head held proud and dignified, Suki cursed the fates within her head, one by one the others left until their was none remaining at all. Suki sighed heavily, and walked calmly out into the lab, then out of it, then up the stairs through the doorway, across the lawn up into the main house and into the bedroom where Teiku was getting dressed, she tugged away his shirt and dove into his lips and embraces and tried to forget what happned by losing herself to his caresses.

* * *

Tomi walked the streets until he arrived at his new job, he wanted out of that house as soon as possible, he wanted away from everything so that was why he got a nighttime job at a local Inn, he was just a regular servent, sometimes helping out in the kitchen or taking things to peoples rooms, that was about it.

Tomi dressed in his robe that had the Inn's emblem inprinted on the back, he quickly got ready for his first order which was taking six meals up to the 2nd floor, a large group of travelers all men had ordered all their food for in their rooms. Tomi took the first three plates up for the men in the room on the Right, they took their food politely, said thank-you and gave a samll tip, Tomi nodded and went downstairs for the rest.

Having very little difficulty he carried the rest up, he knocked on the door and called out saying he brought the meals, suddenly their was loud urgant barking, as something huge hit the door, Tomi backed up in suprise, a man holding the very large white dog by a coller opened the door.

Tomi stared at its large teeth, the thing was huge!. The man had tan skin, and wild brown hair, with suprisingly feral looking eyes, he was quite tall, and the way he held himself was with almost a macho confidence. He spoke, his voice loud and gruff, everything reminded Tomi of a dog, "don't mind him he's not going to hurt you". The man flicked the dog on the nose, it silenced, but whined, and streched its head out sniffing wildly.

Tomi smiled, "it must be hungry, it smells the food" The man laughed, "yeah probably, funny, he just ate, don't know what got into him...hey Shikamaru! grab my wallet will ya?" Tomi looked past him another man was reading he had pale skin and long brown hair tied back into a pony tail, his eyes looked pale, another man most likely 'Shikamaru' grunted as he got up, a Cigerette dangled form his mouth, he had black hair tied back in a bun that reminded Tomi of a pinapple.

Once the brown haird man grabbed the meals from Tomi, Tomi spoke, "exuse me sir, we don't allow smoking in the rooms, I am sorry to inconveniance you" he said bowing. Shikamaru sighed and put it out, the brown haired man chuckled, "nice" then set the trays down and reached into the wallet one handed and fished out a tip, then reached out to give it to him, then froze, he sniffed deeply, his eyes suddenly went blank.

Suddenly Tomi found himself pinned against the wall, one hand on his mouth and another holding him in the air, "what the-"? said Shikamaru, the brown haired man stood, Tomi gasped the man had no pupils!. "Kiba! what are you doing!" "quiet! he has Fluffy's sent!" Tomi gasped (or tried to) then tried to speak. Kiba shushed him "all right kid, I'll let go of your mouth but you better not scream."

Tomi nodded his head, Kiba let go, "you know Fluffy?" he said excited, Kiba must have been taken aback by his sudden outburst, "yeah..." he said, "are you here to rescue him? you from Konoha right? your ninjas! oh man this is so cool! my dad was one from Kumo, but he left my mom, I wanted to learn how to be one but mom didn't want me to be one, but my uncle is! his name is Teiku! he was the one who got Fluffy! you have to-" Kiba put his hand back on his mouth, "you have to stop! I can't keep up, take a deep breath and tell me this, where is Fluffy?".

Tomi nodded, Kiba removed his hand once more, then dropped him, "he's in the main house compound, well its under my Uncles girlfriends name Usumi, she's a 'scientist' I hate her, she's the one who got uncle to do everything! she's evil, and she wants me gone so that she can have her family with uncle, which I hope never happens!."

Kiba put his hand on the boys mouth "you never know when to shut up do you?" Shikamaru grinned, "reminds you of someone dosen't it?" Kiba glared at the others, "hey I shut-up!" Neji sighed, "never when we want you too". Kiba growled and was going to say something, "so how are we going to save Fluffy?" Tomi asked though Kibas hand clenched on his mouth. Shikamaru spoke, "we as in us," Shikamaru said motioning to the three of them "are going to save him", "you" he said pointing to Tomi "are going to stay outside away from the danger."

Tomi shooke his head, "no I am coming with you! I want to help Fluffy! he's really in bad shape, exspecially today! he needs to get out, and besides I know the way in and out so you need me!." Shikamaru rubbed his face with a hand, "how trouble some" he said, Neji sighed, "look were going to have to talk to the leader, he'll decide".

Shikamaru nodded "fine" "no need, we heard everything from across the hall" said Vulture stepping into the room. he wore his Anbu guards and armor, "whoa! is he a ninja too?" asked the kid, "yeah...hey whats your name anyway?" "Waya Tomi", he said. Kiba grinned, "well Tomi, nice to meet ya, I'm Inuzaka Kiba, this is Akamaru, and thats Nara Shikamaru, Hyuuga Neji".

They nodded to him "wow, this is so cool, hey is he blind? because he has no pupils..." Tomi asked suddenly pointing to Neji, Neji sighed an anger mark appearing on his forehead, while Kiba snickered, "no, his eyes are special, thats all, and trust me he is the furthest one from blind".

Vulture stepped forword, "Tomi, we are Konohas elite, these men here are regular Jounin, who have close ties to Fluffy, we were sent on a mission to rescue him, time is of the essence, you need to lead us to where Fluffy is being contained, I will ask you a few questions while we wait for the jounin to get into battle gear."

Tomi nodded, the man lead him into the hall, and asked basic questions like how many people were there and what exactly was Fluffy taken for, what had be done things like that, Tomi told them everything he knew, "well thats all I know right now, they could have done more things to him last time I saw him was this morning."

The man nodded, the door opened out came the other three, Akamaru snuggled up to Tomi, "hey Tomi ever ride a dog before?" Tomi blanced and looked at the pony sized animal, "you can ride him?" Kiba nodded, as soon as they were out the door, Tomi suddenly found himself pulled onto the dog, "point and I'll steer" Kiba said from behind him.

Tomi nodded and pointed in the direction they should go.

* * *

After their bought Suki rested and told Teiku what happned, he patted her shoulder and said they would figure out another way, Suki nodded but still was upset and angry at what had happened, she became frustrated she hated that vile creature, "Teiku?" she asked, "what?" he asked, back "do we need that perticular demon anymore?" Teiku shrugged, "do we need anymore tests done on it?" she shook her head, he smirked "then go have some fun, releive your anger."

Suki grinned devilishly, "I love you so much sometimes", Teiku smirked "of course you do, and I love you as well." Suki got up and dressed, taking her time so Teiku could enjoy the show, then left with one last kiss good-bye, she almost skipped like a school girl as she went across the lawn to the entrence of the undergroud compound.

Yes Teiku was right she would have some fun, and she would be very happy in a few short minutes. She grinned as she walked into the lab, "allright boys works done, now time for some play, who wants to start first?"

* * *

Tomi nodded, "were here", all of the Ninja quietly slipped in over the wall, Tomi just acted natrual and walked through the gate, Tomi walked towards the entrence, he knew the ninja were hiding themselves within the bushes and in the trees, but he couldn't spot them, 'of corse I won't their ninjas!' he said to himself.

Suddenly someone barked his name, "Tomi" he looked over it was his uncle, he was coming out from the building, "back from work early I see don't bother going down, you no longer need to look after the demon, its pretty much gone by now". Tomi's heart leapt into his throat, "wha...? you killed him!" he screamed, his uncle looked at him strange, "ah, no, I think its probably still hanging on, but its going to die soon." Tomi ran past him, but his uncle caught him by an arm, "what the hell do you think you are doing! its a stupid animal! get a hold of yourself boy!"

He yelled then held his other arm back to smack him, Tomi closed his eyes and waited for th blow, he heard one but didn't feel it, suddenly the pressure holding his arm released, he opened his eyes, Kiba stood over him, he smirked, "rule number one of a ninja, never flinch or freeze up".

Tomi looked around Kiba, his uncle laid on the groud out cold, "whoa..." was all he could say, Kiba whistled, Akamaru came bounding up, "Akamaru sit" Kiba said, Akamaru walked over and sat on the unconcious person, "stay" he said then turned to Tomi, "we were going for a rescue?" Tomi nodded and sprang into action.

* * *

Naruto laid on his side, he knew not where anymore, he didn't know if he was on the shoreline of his own unconcious or if he just was alone in a very dark room, a voice in his head told him to get up and fight, to try, to live till another day, so that he could become hokage, he got a chance he shouldn't waste it, he shouldn't but his limbs just wouldn't move, he was too tired, to sore, to weak.

He was always weak, he always needed the Kyuubi, or someone elses help all the time, why was that? why did he need to get help? was he not strong enough? no wait,...what he was thinking? he was strong!, he saved Konoha from Pains attack, he concured, the Kyuubi, he concured the dark half of his heart, he saved many people, he gave people reasons to stand up and fight, he gave hope to others, he was Uzumaki Naruto, son of the Yellow flash and Uzumaki Kushina, he was strong, and yet here he was lying on a cold hard floor, not being able to stand.

The lessons drilled into him by Mammoth and his upper classmen at Anbu head quarters raged in his head, but no amount of yelling or will power would make him move, why was this? because he knew they were just voices, figments of his imagination, they wouldn't be here, none of them would ever come, he was just a Wolf demon now, he wasn't the Hero of Konoha anymore, he was no one.

* * *

Tomi felt a little awkward as they took the elevator down to the floor Fluffy should be on, the Elevator music played some smooth jazz, Kiba hummed along with it after a few moments, then one group swivel of heads staring at him made him stop.

The elevator stopped, Tomi looked at the group leader, he held up a smoke bomb, he opened the elevator door open just a bit stopped it threw it in the closed the door counted off three seconds, they heard a muffled, 'boom' and then he opened the door and they ran in, Tomi went in and using his memory slunk through the fog, he held his breath while he heard the coughing and hacking near him suddenly stop with a small yelp or grunt, and then heard the thudding sound of a body hitting the floor.

He made his way to the table, it was empty, he stayed until he could see just a little then searched for him, soon the entire room was cleared, no sign of him, Kiba switched to his nose, he poitned to a door, Tomi went and grabbed one of the unconcious scientists lab key, he took it and opened the door, Kiba lead the way though several doors before they came to a room that was completly dark.

Tomi turned on the lights, and the group gasped. "Fluffy!" he yelled and ran up to him, he laid on the floor, on his side, his side moved, 'he's alive' Tomi thought, he looked terrible, his skin sagged off his bones, he had blood running from several wounds on his body, his fur had been shaved off in some areas, in other areas his fur was singed.

Tomi sat down, they still hadn't taken off the muzzle, tears fell down his cheeks as he tried to work the contraption off, Kiba bent down and helped him, his hands were much stronger and broke it off. Fluffy opened his eyes, they stared out at first in fear then in pain then suddenly they went blank as he whimpered.

Suddenly their was a commotion as Shikamaru, Neji and the rest of the group were suddenly hit form behind. They went sprawling out into the room, Kiba swung around only to catch Akamaru who was thrown at him, the dog whimpered and Kiba was trapped momentarily underneathe his weight, Akamaru seemed to be unconcious.

The other Anbu started to get to their feet, only to be suddenly chained together, "the Waya family has always captured the tailed beasts and controlled them with our chakra chains, many have tried to immitate them but all pale in comparison."

The Anbu members groaned as they chains wrapped tighter and tighter aorund them, "let them go!" Tomi screamed, sudddnly another chain appeared and wrapped aorund him, he tried to pull it off to no avail. "you brought them here? you betray your family! you betray your sister! to save a demon!"? Teiku roared.

Tomi cried, "he's not a creature Uncle-" the chains squeezed tighter, "no! I will not let you link your name to mine, you are filth, you are lower then that creature next to you, if you care about it so much, I will just kill you together, after I finish off these first.

Suddenly the man froze, he grunted, "what the hell? I can't move!" "Shadow possesion no jutsu... is a success, thats the good things about you bad guys, always talking away, not paying attention to others in the room." The men groaned, "Nara, I should have known" Shikamaru shrugged, "yeah you should, but no one ever does".

Neji was also up, he swooped in and broke the chain connecting Tomi to Teiku, then stood in a defensive posture infront of him.

Naruto heard all that went on and saw, they had came, he wans't a nobody he was Naruto still to them, he was a hero worth saving, and he was going to prove why they needed him so much, pain hit him but he ignored it, his friends were in danger, Tomi was in danger, and Naruto's true strength always comes when his greatest friends or the ones he loves are in danger and need him.

That was who he was, he was a Ninja of love, his strength and everything he had was thanks to the love he received from others. he rose, slowly at first, but he rose, he took care not to walk on the leg that had the bone marrow raken out of it.

He growled, Chakra suppresers taken off, he was a free Wolf. "Waya Teiku, its about time we had our rematch." Naruto spat, Tomi whirrled around, Neji glanced back, "you think your up to it Fluffy?" he nodded, "he kidnaps me, and pins me down and treats me like an animal, of course I am ready."

Naruto limped up, his teeth bared, "you want to know someting about us Wolf demons?, well heres something, we always go for the throat". Then with that Nauto launched himself into the air and hit the frozen Teiku, breaking his chains on his Anbu comrade's, Shikamaru broke his hold on the man, as Naruto finally tore into the flesh that had caused him all his pain.

When the man was dead, Naruto turned and staggard, that effort alone took most of his last energy. Kiba finally slid out form under Akamaru, cursing a storm, "dammit Akamaru! you are going on a diet!". Naruto's legs buckled as he fell to the floor, Panda came up, "hey Fluffy, we came", Naruto smiled, "about time you show up". was all he said before he fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

Suki, grabbed whatever she could find that she would need and was off, her love of her life had been killed, but she would get her revenge, oh yes but it would take a while before she could, she was a little weighed down at the moment, what with both the baggage she had now and the small baggage she would have in about 8 months from now, oh yes she never told her love the beginning of 'their' family was here, a regret she would have to live with, but don't worry she would be back, and her son, their child would learn all the arts of the Waya family and he would grow up someday and destroy that infernal demon, already she could imagine the pain and suffering she would reek on that Demon.

She turned and took one last look at the home they used to have, the ninja were coming out now, hauling up the unconcious crew members, she turned and ran, she had been trained in the ways of Ninja, of course she had, she knew she was no match for them, but one day, one day. She reached down and felt her now slightly curved stomech, to the embryo who at the moment was multipling its cells bit by bit soon growing into a perfect blend of hers and his genetics.

She chuckled, she would train, and so will her son, until then she would watch and wait, thats all she could do, the demon thought the worst was over, hah! it has just begone, her revenge would be the greatest, and the day she had it? well whenever it is, it would be a glorious day, one well worth waiting for.

* * *

Kiba looked around there was at least twenty people, "what are we going to do with them all?" Vulture turned to him, "we wait until Mammoth comes with reinforcments, I sent a mesenger before we left the Inn, we will hold up base here until they arrive, if they move fast they will be here in a day."

Kiba nodded and leaned down and began to wrap Naruto's wounds, and do all that he could, "everything bad always happens to him, and yet he's still the happiest being I know". he said outloud, Vulture and the other Anbu members couldn't help but agree with him, even though they did so silently, they went about their work securing the prisoners and then began to go through files both paper and files stored on computor of what they had done, it was then they came across a video that made the blood run cold in all the Anbu members.

* * *

Tomi ended up helping Kiba, "so whats you story again? your mom died? and your dad was a ninja?" Tomi nodded, "my mom trained until she was a Chunin rank then stopped when she met dad, she never told me who he was or anything, she just said he was a strong and powerful ninja who had seen to much death, and she didn't want me to end up like him so she kept my uncle and grandfather from taking me to learn the families secrets."

Kiba nodded, "I see, and your mom, she's dead now?" Tomi looked sad and nodded, "she got really sick, in the end I was taking care of her, but it wasn't enough.." he paused as he curled his knees up into his chest and put his head down and cried.

Kiba patted his shoulder, "don't worry, you did the best you could do thats all that matter's I bet she was proud of you, and she wasn't she is now, you did the right thing Tomi". Tomi nodded and looked up through tear streaked eyes, "thanks, Kiba-san(sorry I forgot suffixes earlier xD).

Kiba grinned "don't mention it, and if it means anything, my dad died before I was born, so I don't know what its like to have a father either, and Fluffy here, he lost his parents as well". Tomi looked down at Fluffy, "thats too bad, hey Kiba-san, how did you meet Fluffy anyway?".

Kiba sighed, "well, lets see, it was after the war, and Hinata, Neji's cousin, well she's my wife now, she found Fluffy, and took him in, and she asked me to help train him, thats how I met him." Tomi smiled, "thats sounds nice, so you train dogs?" Fluffy snapped an eye open, "oi I am not a dog!" Tomi jumped.

Kiba yelped but then laughed, "right, right, sorry Fluffy, but no I don't trian 'dogs' my clan uses dogs as partners when we are Ninja's, I have had Akamaru since he was a pup, I have a sister who runs a vet clinic and adoption center, she has three, my mom's, Kuromaru he so smart he actully can talk, but he's not a demon, he's just a smart dog."

Tomi was amazed, "whoa, that is so cool! I wish I could see them, but I guess I..." he stopped, "what? what is it?" Kiba asked, "well the Waya family has always been very small, but the war...killed all but my mom and my uncle, now he's gone, so...I have nowere to go".

Kiba rubbed his chin, he glanced aorund then sighed, "well, I know a few people who have no family left, one became a hero, the other...well he's serving a prison sentence, and is a little messed up, and I don't want to see you becoming like the latter, so maybe you should come with us to Konoha, we'll find a place for you, maybe you can be a ninja if you want".

Tomi jumped up and down, "really! I can be a ninja! oh I have wanted to be one my entire life! I know its a lot of hard work! and I kinda started later in the game! but just because I start late dosen't mean I can't run the race like everyone else!".

Kiba laughed, "fine, well come on I'll show you how you hold a Kunai without cutting off your fingers." Tomi jumped up, and followed Kiba, Naruto sat and watched them, 'someting tells me, Hinata is going to be a 'mother' sooner then she thought.' Naruto thought to himself then chuckled and fell back to sleep.

* * *

Well that is what I have so far, sorry for taking so long, Senior year at school started and its a bit hectic.

NSW


	23. The Homecoming

**_Chapter 23_**

**_Life as a Fox_**

**_NSW_**

* * *

Mammoth and his group traveled at top speed for the enitre day. Running through the night as well, by dawn of the next day they had made it, There really was no need for rushing, but they had to apprehend the criminals that were caught, at least that was the exuse each of them made for themselves but really in reality, they all wanted to see that Fluffy was all right.

Even Mammoth who was supposed to be the General of the Anbu, the top dog who knew the code, and the ways of the Anbu, to not have emotions or strings attached to people. But the fact of the matter was, Fluffy was a being you could not ignore, a person who you could not get attached too, there was something about him that made a person trust, and dare Mammoth say it hope in.

So they arrived at the place where Vulture said they would be, Vulture in fact met up with them at the small villege entrance. They spoke not a word, just a curt nod and then they were off they were but black flashed moving across the villege landscape.

They arrived, first thing they did was check in on Fluffy who was still sleping, the medic nin got to work on him. Mammoth and the others placed all the captives under arrest and had guys setting up a special transportation seal moving along the scientists to Konoha with ease by transporitng them there.

Mammoth then lead a team to go through and serch the entire complex below ground while, others serched the house, and one or two took notes of everyting, Mammoth interogated Tomi himself and judged him to be innocent.

After a long day Mammoth finaly was able to rest he filed through some of the scientists notes, he began read ing some.

'-_creature seems to have the generic make-up of the species canius lupis, however it has the addition of a chakra coil, and an advanced frontal lobe in the brain, evidense suggets either demons are either advanced evolved forms, or a anciant breed of creature dying out.'_

Mammoth sighed, he flipped the page and came upon something intresting...

_'chakra density and purity of the creatures is 3 times that of a normal human, further exemining of the chakra coil reveled that the chakra coil is made of five combined coils on one, one for each element, proving that Demons have the ability to use and harness the power of all elements and are able to create new elements by combining chakras of different coils together.'_

Mammoth hummed thoughtfully under his breath it was very intresting, he glanced at Fluffy, his heart went out ot the poor creature, his injuries were quite extensive, who knows how long it will be before he was back going on missions.

Mammoth took all the papers and made copies of them, then sent copies Via messenger bird to the Hokage, he added an extra letter explaining everything. Fluffy stirred suddenly and opened his crystalline blue eyes, "M...mammoth?" he croaked.

Mammoth leaned down and rested his had softly against his head, "we got you Fluffy, we got you, rest now." Fluffy nodded and drifted back to sleep. Mammoth gave him one last pat then walked back out, Kiba Inuzaka was showing the boy different techniques for the Kunai.

Mammoth gazed thoughtfully at them, they seemed like father and son already, they even looked alike, same brown unruly hair, same tan. Mammoth smirked beneath his mask, he sighed, he was old now, he no longer had dreams of family, he once did but he could never find the right girl, he once came close, but one day she said something that haunts him to this day, if had to choose between her and his job as leader of the Anbu which would he choose.?

Mammoth's then young hand was on the door nob when she said that, she was tired of him leaving all the time for work, and he was sorry for her, he trully was, but he ended up turning that nob all the way and leaving, the next day when he came back, she was gone and so was all her stuff, she only left a note that said, 'I hope you find what you are looking for'.

Mammoth had stood in that empty house just staring at those few words that bored out at him, he still had that note, he kept it to this day, but she was wrong he already had found what he wanted, he was someone people could look up to and trust, who respected him and needed him, he was the lead Mammoth of the herd, and like any great Mammoth you are always alone, sure you may mingle with your herd, but you show your love for them by protecting them and doing whats right by them, and they will follow you to the ends of the earth, that was who he was.

The next day they moved out, Fluffy was carried on Mammoths back as they came home, Kiba took Fluffy when it was time to part, all the men gave Fluffy one last pat or wish for good luck and parted, Mammoth nodded to Fluffy and gave him a pat on the head.

* * *

Hinata kept herself busy most of the time Kiba was gone, she cleaned the house a couple thousand times, did the dishes, washing each dish thoroughly twice. Hinata sighed, all she could do was wait, but to wait for what? to hear news that Naruto was dead? to hear news that no one could find him? that he could never be brought back home?.

Suddenly the door opened, she heard familiar pantinf and foot falls of Akamaru, she stood up from where she was lying on the bed, she walked slowly out, she heard two voices, Kiba's and another, younger softer, more timid. Hinata walked out, Kiba stood Naruto's white fluffy head stuck out from behind Kiba's shoulder, and a young boy about 14 or 15 stood next to Kiba, he was slim but wiry, and he had an innocent face and honest looking eyes.

To Hinata it looked like Kiba in a way, Kiba spoke "umm...hey sweetie, I'm back" Hinata smiled and rushed him, hugging him strongly and kissing him and Naruto a hundred times each, she wiped away tears of joy, Kiba set Naruto down on couch, Hinata moved in and got him comfertable, "how are you? what hapened? what did they do to you? do oyu need anything?".

She must have sounded like a babbeling baboon to him but she had so much she wanted to know, she wanted to know what she could do to make him better to help him, Kiba rested a hand on her shoulder, "Hinata, let him rest, he's been through a lot, now I want oyu to meet someone" Kiba turned her towards the boy, "this is Tomi, ..he kinda. dosen't have anyone, he also was the one that made it possible for use to find Naruto, he also helped save Naruto, he needs a place to stay, I figured we have an extra bed-room, if its all right..." he trailed off.

Hinata siled softly, "of course he can stay here, here Tomi, I will show you the room, you must be tired, I'll bring something for you to eat later, you are welcome here as thanks to saving Naruto". She then leaned down and kissed his forehead, he blushed, "you're welcome...mam, I...ah, thanks...you really are nice" Hinata chuckled and hugged him "call me Hinata, now tell me what is a young boy like you doing all by yourself?".

Tomi sighed, "my mom died, so I was sent to live with my uncle, him and his girlfriend... they were the ones who took Naruto, I'm sorry, I hated them, they were cruel and mean, I'm so sorry they caused you this pain". Hinata shrugged, "its no pain, don't worry you have us now, come" Hinata said ushering him away.

Kiba glanced at Naruto, Naruto glanced at Kiba, "might as well start calling him son" Naruto said, Kiba said nothing, Naruto was suprised at this, "so, you already have, very well, get me ramen". Kiba rolled his eyes but did so.

Naruto happily slurped the noodles up, Naruto ate them then Akamaru came up and in Naruto's weakened form could only watch in horror as the dog knocked the bowl down and slurrped up the noodles. "Hinata!" he howled, Hinata rushed into the room, she saw what happened, Kiba came in. Both of them looked at Naruto, then suddenly they both began laughing, they laughed so hard they were crying Naruto just glowered at them, Kiba finally said "kami Naruto, its good to have you back".

Naruto smirked and gave them his familiar wolfy grin, "and its glad to be back, but I will chew on your shoes unless you get me another bowl and get that mutt as far away as possible from me", Kiba grinned, "sure, but you chew my shoes, and its a call to my sister, saying you have gotten uncontrollable aand need to be fixed."

Naruto muttered under his breath of what he would like to do, to a certian brown haired Ninja that painted his cheeks red every morning.

* * *

**whew, its done once again, I am so sorry for taking a crap load of time, Senior year at school. Drama, Band choir concerts and plays, and Science olimpiad tournments, and just plain 'I don't want to frikin write right now'.**

**NSW**


	24. Silversight

Chapter 24

Life as a Fox

NSW

* * *

Naruto trotted slowly around the rehabilitation track in the Anbu training and physical therpy center. It had took him a few weeks to heal, mend and get his strength back. Naruto felt a whole lot better, everyone was happy that he was back, and Tomi was fitting in well with Kiba and Hinata, he was very kind and respectul and helped out around the house. The other rookie nine had accepted him as well, Ino liked to pinch his cheeks and call him her' little brother', which made him blush vividly.

Naruto chuckled to himself at the thought, "something funny?" Ichino asked running in step beside him, "oh nothing, just thinking to myself" Ichino sighed, Naruto glanced at him, "something wrong?" Ichino nodded "hopefully you never get hurt that badly ever agian" he said, "why?" Naruto asked "I don't think there will be much help we can bring".

Naruto glanced at him, "what do you mean?" "Snowfox, our head healer, she passed away, now we have no one to teach all the other medics, who at this point are all green horns and were only in their second year of healing, so we are screwed when it comes to healers..."

Naruto sighed then an Idea formed, "hey, what if we could find a new healer? just as good?" Ichino shrugged, "I don't know anyone who was as good as her, Lady Tsunade maybe, but she's anciant and shes retired, and works at the hospital"

Naruto grinned "I never said, he was Human" then Naruto put on a burst of speed and ran towards the exit.

* * *

Mammoth stared down a him, "a what?" "a badger demon, I met him while we were on our Anbu final exam, he's good he healed Ichino." Mammoth rubbed his temples. "Wolfheart, anyone can heal basic wounds, we need an expert,-" "Gomeg is an Expert! just meet him, thats all I am asking".

Mammoth sat back in his chair, "fine, I give you one week to bring him here, that is if you can find him, you got it?" Naruto nodded and ran out of the room. Mammoth chuckled and sighed, "hnmmm another Demon, I wonder..."

* * *

Naruto ran as fast as his body would allow him, after paying his respects to Toyi he wandered off in the direction of Gomegs cave. He wandered up to the entrence, and knocked on the little door, Gomegs didn't really have a cave persay, it was more like a large dug out burrow.

Naruto was about to knock when Gomegs wiry voice came out from behind it, "come in Brother Wolf", Naruto entered, Gomeg was fixing himself some weird concocgtion of grub worms, a weird moss of somesort and leaves. "ah, join me for lunch?" Naruto shook his head, "no, Gomeg, you are an expert healer right?" Gomeg grinned showing off his yellowed sharp teeth, "of course, I am a Demon healer."

Naruto sighed "well, our head Healer back at the Anbu, she died, and left behind a bunch of half trained apprentices, I was wondering if you would like to take over?" Gomeg paused in his chewing, "now, why would I do that?" Naruto sighed "because, you don't have to live in this hole anymore! you can be able to go out and not have to worry about someone trying to shoot you for your pelt!".

Gomeg nodded, "hnmmmm that would be nice" Naruto continued, "also, you wouldn't need to have to forge for your own food, and supplies!, you have that all there already!, and the food...its actual food! any kind of meat you want! rare, red, bloody whatever you want whenever!".

Gomeg eyed him, "you are putting a very convincing argument, I am tempted, very tempted" Naruto tried to think of something Gomeg would like, "and...you have a bunch of humans you can boss around all day" Gomeg dropped his food, "well, what am I sitting here eating this, help me pack you big oaf!".

Naruto grinned and helped seal the essential things Gomegs needed, his papers and some of the more exotic supplies his 'totems' and things of that nature. When it was all sealed and ready to go, Gomeg made one last look at his home, "so long old abode" then with that he leaped upon Naruto's back "now mush my Wolfy friend, you don't expect these old bones to carry me all the way".

Naruto sighed and rolled his eyes then leaped into the air, getting a satisfing yelp from his aged passenger on his back. Naruto carried Gomeg fast over the landscape as it bled into the familiat forests and vallies that surrounded the Leaf villege.

The overall trip took three days for Naruto to carry out, on the morning of the 4th Naruto arrived at the entrence to the Anbu head quarters, "now, these people we are the best of the best warriors, they comand complete and utter respect."

Gomeg waved him off while he climbed down from Naruto's back, he walked on his paws, his long curved Badger claws clacking against the floor, they didn't run into anyone until they rounded the first corner. It was a few girl Anbu they screamed "ah! who let a wild Badger in!" Gomeg turned to them "hey now, young humans, I am not wild, I was in my younger days but not now".

Gomeg then turned away form them, all of them stared at him , Naruto apologized to them and ran after Gomeg. "come Gomeg we must go meet Mammoth" Gomeg turned away, "no, I smell blood" "Gomeg, now is not the time to eat!" Gomeg ignored him, Naruto ran after him, for an old badger he moved fast.

Gomeg however did not head to the cafeteria, instead he was headed ot the medic ward, Gomeg opened the doors. There was two men groaning and screaming in pain, all the medic nin surrounded them and were yelling orders to each other, "no give him morphine then sanitize the wound!" but another would argue something else, all of them were going about like chickens with their heads cut off.

Naruto looked clodely at the wound it looked to be some sort of burn and stab wound, like someone was stabbed with a large object that removed a chunk of their bodies, skin, fat muscle everything, Naruto winced it looked dreadfully painful. But Gomeg walked up to the tables with an expert ease, he leaped up suprising some of them, and also causing others to scream.

Gomeg glared at them, "everyone shut-up, first, you must get them to stop moving, put them under you dolts" Gomeg extended his claws out and touched the scraming mans neck, he instantly went still and relaxed completly. Gomeg then looked at the wound, "now you must build the body back up, speed up the regeneration cells, of Muscle, fat, blood vessels everything, make it new, use copies of neiboring D.N.A".

Gomeg reached down with a paw, and the wound bubbled as raw power flooded over it, the Muscle began to grow again, forming small red bridges, linking together, then white cremey fat slid over top of that, finally the criss crossing of thousands of micro vessles forged through the new tissues, then a layer of skin completed the wound.

Gomeg turned to the next man, "well, are you just going to stand there or you going to help the poor man, healers must learn to be healers no matter what the wound". Naruto smirked all of the Medic nodded and wordlessly moved to the next man, not being able to grasp the fullness of the situation. "I think I have seen enough" Naruto turned to Mammoth, "I am guessing this is your badger?" Gomeg snapped his head around, "excuse me, I am not anyones badger, I am a wild Demon always have always will, but I am willing to offer my talents to help out my kin, plus I hear you have some young humans that need bossing aorund, but I will be more inclined to listening to your propositions of employment over a nice sliver of red deer meat, extra fleshy if you don't mind."

Some of the medics turned gaping, this was Mammoth this small strange creature was mothing off too, Gomeg turned "is your patiant healed yet? I don't think so, remember build the foundation first work your way up, after thats done give them whatever to fight off infection and send them off to be brinless idiot who get caught in crossfires again."

Mammoth looked down at this creature, he was the normal sie of a badger, only a lot more aged, his fur was streaked with silver and gray, his eyes were errily, cloudy blue, yet seemed to look straight through you. His tetth were small sharp and yellow a few missing, and a few chipped, but by no means were they fragile, his claws were yellowed and caked with grime, they were about three inches long and curved dangerously making him to actully be a quite dangerous and intimidating person.

The badger hopped down from the table, "well now, lets go eat", Mammoth nodded and turned leading them both all the way into his office, he sat down and ordered mouse to bring him up steak, only one cooked. Mouse entered with the steak almost immediatly, he glanced at Gomeg but like any good office assistant he said not a word.

Mammoth turned to Gomeg who was digging greedily into his steak, "so, you are a badger demon" Gomeg nodded, "not only, I am also a Badger Demon shamen, I heal, interpet dreams and the stars and preserve the history of our people". Wolfheart nodded and looked thoughtful for a second, "I see, well I know you have excellent Medic skill, and you are very capable at being able to teach our medic's, but I want ot know is what do you want in return?".

Gomeg grinned, "I want what any creature would want, a nice warm dry place to call my own, an ample food supply, to live without being in fear of someone after my pelt, and to not have to be alone anymore, Demons find a solace with another, it has been many years since I have met a fellow Demon, now that I have, I don't want to lose him, plus like I said bossing aorund humans has a nice ring to it."

Mammoth nodded, "very well, I agree, you are welcome into the Anbu, you won't be a warrior like Wolfheart here, so you don't need to go through Anbu training, you are our head Medic, I will of course have to bring a meeting to well...introduce you." Gomeg nodded, "very well, I accept, er...what is your name again? Muffin? err...Maggot?" "Mammoth" both he and Wolfheart said at the same time.

Gomeg nodded "ah, yes Mammoth, the great wanderers of the north, the anciant keepers of the mystic lights, the leaders of the great Ice storms" Mammoth looked at him "ummm...Mammoths are extinct, they are only stories now" Gomeg grinned, "now...who on earth ever said that? I am Gomeg, and although these eyes are blind, these eyes have seen the Mammoths they still exist, and your soul is in harmony with them, you are a Mammoth through and through, never doubt that".

Mammoth was silent, then he cleared his throat "um, yes well then, MOUSE!" he yelled for Mouse, "SIR?" Mouse said coming in, "call a meeting, we ahve a new member of the Anbu". Mouse glanced at Gomeg, "ah...yes sir, very well".

* * *

There was a murmuring as all the Anbu sat down and got situated, Mammoth stood at the lead table, "as you know, Snowfox our head Medic died, now the Medic wing of the Anbu is quite different, their main pupose is to heal, not to fight, they are far more advanced in healing then few others, however Snowfox failed to name a successor so, as for Anbu code, I chose one, and the one I have chosen is a person who I know without a doubt is qualified for the job."

There was a silence as he talked, Mammoth sighed "The villege of Konoha is the first to ever have a Demon Anbu member, well, now the record is going to be broken, for we now also have a Demon head Medic, everone meet Silversight, the newest member of the family." With that, Naruto and Gomeg entered the room, there was a roar of applause, (hinted with a ripple of confusion).

Gomeg whispered to Naruto, "Silversight?" Naruto grinned, "he can sometimes over do it when it comes to naming" Gomeg nodded "of course, Wolfheart, now...what do I do?" Naruto lead him up to where Mammoth stood, "say a few words" Gomeg looked around, there was a silence Gomeg spoke, his vopice taking on that powerdul deepnes it did when he spoke of something of great importence everyone strained to drink more of him in.

"For many years, I have sat and watched idilly by as my people got slautered, I once had a mate, and a family, I had many things, but all of it was taken away by the greed and hatred of Humans, however I still had one thing, my faith, you see few Humans realize that we Demons have a goddess, one who gave up her place in the godly palace for us, she told me to keep on and put trust in the humans, this is me doing so, I beleive soon, so very soon, we Dmeons that have survived for so long in the darkness, we who have had to live in the shadows can once agian take to the light, now when that time comes, you are going to need someone who knows how to heal both Demons and Humans, and I guess..." Gomeg paused, everyone was silent captivated by him, even Naruto.

Gomeg looked up again, "I Silversight, am the Demon you want, now as for my new apprentices..." Gomeg glanced at them, "I may be blind, but these eyes see everything" he said staring right directly at them, "and these claws" he said holding them up "aren't just for show, so get good rest tonight" Gomeg nodded to Naruto, Naruto stepped down, Gomeg followed, people clapped as they left.

Naruto grinned, happily, he was no longer alone, he now had a fellow demon like him, he now didn't feel like a freak anymore, he had his friends he had his dream career at the moment, he had everything, yet...something was still missing...

* * *

**yay! I finished another chapter in record time! **

**yay for me, anyway oh yeah if any of you are on (deleate the '-' when you put it in the website address thingie, add me as a friend my screen name is Spiritwolf100 on W-W-W. h-o-w-r-s-e.c-o-m**

**NSW**


	25. A whole new beginning

Life as a Fox

Chapter 25

NSW

* * *

The white blur loped easily through the trees. Springing from one branch to the next without skipping a single beat. Finally the blur stopped motionless on the forest floor, the forest gazed as a silent witness to his presence. Uzumaki Naruto, now more commonly known as 'Fluffy'. But he also went by another name all together, WolfHeart, the Wolf demon of the Anbu.

Naruto pressed on forword, his mind filtering through the common and familiar scents of the forest. Naruto's mind was easy, he for the first time felt right with the forest, away from the defening noises of the city and the putrid odors of man. Not that he hated living in the city, it was just that this body was made to run beneath the branches of the trees, with the wind his only companion and the moon his only guardian.

Naruto padded softly, the pine needles crunching, silently releasing their fragrance into the air. His nose picked up the sent of many different animals going about their daily life in the forest. He stopped and sighed, then began to contemplate why he was put on a mission such as this. Maybe it was because he was going crazy with boredom at home, maybe it was because he had begged for any mission, who knows, all he knew now was that he had to go through the entire area of the Sound country and look for suspicious activity.

Naruto huffed and laid down in the shade of a tree, he sighed as the light trickling of water over rocks lulled him into a distant slumber. Then he smelled smoke, he awoke with a start, he looked around, the forest was calm, it wasn't the forest on fire. He followed his nose, it led him through many thickets and brambles, he cursed and muttered while trying to go through the obstacles.

He finally got through and arrived at the scene of a terrible horror. Innocent, defenseless people ran for cover and for safety away from the mayhem that went about in the villege. Naruto crouched closer, his attention completly enraptured with the main group of men within the villege who laughed and joked as they destroyed these people's lively hood.

Anger burned in Naruto gut, he crept forword silently, ducking away from both fleeing people and animals. Naruto was going to make his way to the main henchmen, and take him out, and like a chicken with its head cut off the others would run around without no idea of where to go. Naruto grinned savegly at the idea. But then from the corner of his eye, he noted three people, two boys and a girl.

They had a group of five villegers mixed in age, from two young children, to a women who was pregnant then to two older women, the young female spoke outloud, "let's let them go, they can't do any harm to us, I mean others are leaving". The larger teenage male spoke, "but, Kurochi-sensei said, if we have the oppertunity to take hostages we should".

The girl glanced at him, "and if Kurochi-sensei said jump off a cliff you would? look, I get it ,we need a sensei to learn Ninjutsu, but doing this is wrong." Naruto nodded, the girl was right. The girl turned to the villegers, "you may go" she said then turned back to the boys, they ran back up the ally and left the confused villegers.

Naruto spoke from the shadows, "take your chance, leave, go to the Villege hidden in the leaves, three day journey by foot, go now!" he yelled, they were greatly sceared and confused at the unkown voice but they ran anyway. Naruto turned once more towards the main group. _'Kurochi huh_?' he thought to himself, then filtered through all the names and images he had remembered from the Bingo book.

There was a match as he remembered, he was a A-rank missing nin from the Sand. Naruto looked at the others, no one else came to his memory, Naruto slunk forword on his belly. Kurochi was grinning as he bit viciosly into a fruit, a farmer had probably brought to the market to sell today. He then upturned a cart and revealed three young women, all of them looked to be around twenty.

All three were a deep tan color, and seemed to be in a localized religon that paid homage to a local deity. Within that religon, the females and males only wore a simple woven garb, only it was dyed with bright colors, usually they matched the wearer's eye color. Two green robed women and one blue robed women scampered away, or tried to before one was caught by Kurochi, who held her with one arm around her waist.

She screamed and beat her fists against him, he laughed and dropped his fruit. Then he turned her about so she faced him, then forced a kiss upon her, she wrestled away from him and spat at him, only her mouth had been dry and no saliva formed. The other two were caught by other men, Kurochi spoke, "looks like we have dinner and a show tonight boys" he yelled, his followers hooted and hollered.

Naruto saw three figures who were still throughout this entire ordeal, it was the three teenagers, all of them looked grim, the female looked livid. Naruto watched as the three within the commotion of the men fighting over who would get which women (which also made Naruto quite disgusted and angry) they slowly picked up supplies then slunk down an ally and disappeared.

Naruto turned and went after them. He followed them for quite sometime, he noted that all three of them looked very angry and ashamed. Naruto smiled he could use these teenagers to his advantage.

First he circled ahead of them, their intent of travel was very obvious. Then he waited with a simple trap at the ready.

The three of them walked right into it, at once all three of them were dragged up into the trees upside down by a rope that had clasped around their ankles. All three of them yelled and screamed for a bit, and wiggled aorund as well, Naruto watched them with some amusment.

Then he stepped out into view, and glanced up at them. The girl screamed, "look a wolf! oh kami! we are going to be eaten I know it!" Naruto for his own amusment bared his teeth and snapped at them. All of them tried to grab unto each other form where they swung. Naruto though had enough, "enough, all of you stop" he said, of course there was the main shock that everyone seemed to get everytime he spoke.

The random gruttle sounds people made as they tried to create some intelligent train of thought. Naruto cut off their annoying noises, "enough, I talk, I will explain later, right now I need the three of you to help me". All of them looked at each other then back at him, "why" asked the larger male. "because you are going to help undo the wrongs you did on that villege".

The girl spoke a stutter( from fear) alive in her voice. "a..are you, a mountian...doni? an evil spirit?" Naruto was about to say no but then caught himself, it would be fun to pose for a bit, "yes" he said then cleared his throat and took on a scarier tone, "I am the great white Doni, and I am here to wreak horrowing vengence on the people who have hurt my villege".

The thinner male spoke "your villege?" Naruto nodded, "yes, it rests in my mountian, so it is mine!" he spat then lujnged forword bringing himself to his full height he growled(for added effect) "now! prepare to be devoured!" the teens cringed in horror, the larger male begged him to not eat him, claiming he was too young to die. Naruto grinned he was having so much fun, "very well, I will not eat you on one condition" he spoke, they all looked up at him like he was a life savior, "name it!" "help me defeat the men in the villege". All of them shook their heads "we can't they are to strong for us" Naruto sighed "very well then you must die" He took one step forword the girl spoke " FINE! I GIVE!..." then she cleared her throat "oh yes, great white doni, we will help you please don't eat us" Naruto nodded "very good, now come you will help me defeat these menece of my valley".

Naruto chuckled to himsefl _'well at least they know how to choose the lesser of two evils, that is a start'_

All of them nodded, Naruto released them they plopped to the grounds in undignified lumps. Once they had gathered themselves he spoke, "follow me, and do as I say". They nodded, Naruto turned and led them back towards the villege.

* * *

He stopped nearby the outskirts of the villege, he heard the muffeled noises of men going through all the houses of the villege, "what do you want us to do?" Naruto looked to the thinner male, he was tall and gaunt, he had mousy brown hair drawed back in a pony tail, and had two large bangs framing his face, but he had Leaf green eyes.

Naruto nodded towards the main group, "first get back in their play it safe and cool, but if I sense that you are going back to your ways I will tear you apart like the rest" they nodded "then what?" Naruto spoke, "get them to loosen up a bit more, then on my signal attack your sensei" All of them stared at him, "what, he won't expect it, you will have the element of suprise and familiarity on your side, people drop their guard with those they think are weaker then they, or they know they can trust".

All of them still look petrified, "you don't have to kill him, just make sure he can't move, sit on him or something". They glanced at him then back "don't worry, I will have the others down, no one will even get lose enough to breathe on you". They nodded, "now remember, inconspicious" he nodded to them and they got up and walked forword.

Some people called out to them, Naruto heard them answer. They came up with some sort of alibi that sounded like they were searching for secret stores or quality livestock like horses to sell. Naruto nodded the brown haired boy had a good mind about him. They lulled around and spoke with a few, mostly everyone was going about and claiming their own piles of valuables, Naruto however could here muffled screaming and struggling in some houses, he would stop the unmentinable horror that was going on there first.

Naruto crept through the alleyways and debris, then finally made it to the first house, he crept inside through a side window, and in the dark made his way to his first victem, he grunted and sweated like a pig over his own victem who wept and was completly still. Naruto bared his teeth an a snarl then struck, grabbing the man by the spine, his teeth burying themselves into the weak flesh, then man screamed, but no one bothered to care, they thought it was the women.

Naruto then pulled the man back so he was on the floor, in agony, Naruto struck once more, slaying the man like the pig he was. With blood bitter upon his tongue Naruto turned to the women, she was inbetween reality and dreams, lost in her own plae she went to, to escape the horrors of real life. Naruto nudged her whining, she seemed to awake, he whispered into her ear, "stay hidden, do not let them see you, wait for my return".

The women nodded her eyes vacent and full of pain. Naruto lept over the pool of blood and went to the door, he cocked an ear and heard more screaming in the next house, he slunk over and peeped through a window, it was several acts of rape going on in this place, it would be quite difficult, he looked around, and saw that the house had a fireplace, with a chimney.

Naruto leaped up unto the roof and went to the chimney, being careful not to be seen, he blocked the opening, so the smoke would not be able to escape and thus, would fill up the house. Naruto waited until he heard plenty of gasping and coughing, Naruto entered in one quick run he dashed aorund the room, killing all three men quickly and effectively.

The women screamed and ran form the house thinking it was on fire, one women slid in a pool of blood and fell upon one of the bodies, she screamed even louder, they ran form the house. Naruto dashed out of the house, In the confusion of the escaping women, some of them men, left their leader alone with hios three students who luckily, leaped upon him and sat on him, one on his legs, one on his arms, the other on his torso.

Naruto had to move quickly, he created about twenty clones then he charged, all of them had his ghost wolf defense around them, they sprung into battle, like a herd of perfectly trained war mounts. Naruto leaped in and out of battle, a blur of white his battle rage at its extent. Naruto made it through the weak line of defense and 'charged for the guns' in a sense, and attacked their leader.

* * *

Kurochi, was wrestling with his students' cursing up a storm and trying to get free. He was seconds away form over powering all three of them, when Naruto got there, and quick as a flash he lunged and took the man's throat in his jaws.

He had to stop himself from biting down and destroying the man, so he instead had severla clones come up and grab a hold of his limbs, as if they were getting ready to tear him into peices. Naruto had his clones hold him while he spoke to the teenagers, "get me some ink,paper and rope".

They rumaged aorund and found enough, Naruto tied the man up then placed chakra restraint seals upon him. The teenagers looked to him, "why didn't you kill him"? Naruto spoke "a higher power will make sure he id given his just rewards, now listen to me".

They huddled closer, "Since you have righted your wrongs I will grant you your wish" he spoke, "Wish? how do you know about our wish? and when did you say-" "SILENCE STUPID MORTAL!" Naruto yelled, laughing inside as they shrinked back in terror.

Naruto spoke, "I know what it is you seek, a sensei, to teach oyu the ways of the ninja, well, you will find him in Konoha, in the land of fire, go there, there you will be granted your wish." They all looked at him then looked back but he and the body was gone, vanished without a trace.

* * *

Naruto laughed outloud, he had much fun fooling with those teenagers, plus he had taught them a valubale lesson, and he made three more hard working and honost teenagers join the ranks of village hidden in the leaves.

He hauled the Kurochi on his back to the nearest Hunter nin station and collected the money, they sent the unconciousman to Konoha for his imprisonment. Naruto then secretly watched over the three teens journey.

* * *

They arrived finally in Konoha after almost a five day journey, somehow they got lost, but mysteriously the next day after being lost, an arrow drawn in the dirt near the campfire pointed them to where they needed to go. They stared aorund them at the hustle and bustle of the enormous village.

Gin glanced over at Chikao. Gin studied him, he was a tall gaunt lad, they had been together since she could remember all three of them, living and surviving together in the poverished land of sound, they had traveled out of the sound before, but always returned, but know they had a future, they had hope.

Gin twirled her finger aorund her short silver hair, all three of them had wanted to be ninja's if you were a ninja you could survive, you could be someone, and most importantly, you could protect yourself. Gin glanced over and Baru, he was a very tall very strong teen, he reminded Gin of a Lion, except for his lack of hair.

Chikao looked aorund, "where do we go?" he asked aloud to them, Gin shrugged, "I don't know, but the Doni said we would find our sensei here". Baru nodded, "yeah, but where exactly" They wandered around taking in all the sights and sounds and stopped and rested in the local park. Baru streched out on a bench "I could get used to this, this place is nice".

Then a voice spoke, "quite nice, in fact that is my favorite spot, also you should learn how to listen to directions better". All of them jumped up and swivled towards the voice. It was the doni! Gin was speechless, Chikao spoke, "aren't you supposed to be home?" The white creature, who looked like a normal wolf, only a bit larger, and had a deepr chest, as well he had a strange calm in his eyes, a almost human emotion.

The Done grinned, showing off vicious canines, Gin also noted that at least one was missing. "this is my home, welcome to the villege hidden in the leaves, I am Fluffy the Wolf demon of Konoha". All of the gaped at him, GIn felt stunned then embarresed she had been fooled by this creature, then she felt a wave of anger, "hey! why the heck did you trick us like that? huh! what is your angle!".

The demon looked at her, "oh, I am sorry, did you want me to arrest you as well for aiding a known convict? very well I will" She gasped as her heart stopped for a second, "no wait! I'm sorry! I just don't like to be used as a tool" The creature grinned, "then you my friend are going into the wrong profession, that is what we ninja are, we are tools to be used by the villege, what did you think it was all glory and honor?".

They nodded, that was exactly what it sounded like, people would respect and fear you, and do whatever you want. The creature continued, "well its not, its hard work, pain misery, and inevitably death" he spat out the final word as if he had experianced the latter before, "I am giving you a choice, you can remain on the path of wanting to be a ninja, that is fine, but Konoha offers other area's of work, here you can start anew, and, well pardon the pun, turn a new leaf".

Baru, Chikao and Gin looked at each other, could it be? did they have to be ninja now? they found a place where they could be whatever they wanted to be, not just a ninja. Gin closed her eyes, no, she was not turning away now, she would become what she had dreamed, she was adament. Gin opened, "I want to be a ninja, it is all I ever wanted to be, I don't care about the risks, I already know them, it is the oppertunities that I am looking forword to."

Chikao and Baru nodded, they stepped in closer to her, they were united, all three of them, no matter what they would stick together. The creature grinned slowly, "excellent, a good and noble heart, none of you are quiters, good, my students have to be this way". Gin for a second, thought she had misheard him "wait, did you say your students?" The demon nodded, "yes, I will be your sensei, now come, first we have to get you enlisted".

Chikao and Baru stared at him, "so...wha-...huh?" Baru asked, Gin was just as confused, trying to wrap her head around all that had happened, the Demon sighed then spoke. "look, when I saw what was happening to the villege, I went in their fully intending to kill every last one, but, when I heard what you said, young..." the demon stopped "Gin" she said, "ah, young Gin, when I heard what you said, I saw a little bit of me, back when I was young, I knew, that you three were different from the rest. You were just young misled lambs, so I decided to take you under my wing and teach you the right way of being a ninja, but first I had to test you".

Gin smiled, this demon wasn't to bad, he was quite interesting. The demon smirked back, "so, young Gin, and...?" he trailed off, "Chikao" Chikao said, "and that's Baru" Gin said pointing to the boy, "well, Chikao, Gin, Baru, welcome to Konoha, I am your Sensei Fluffy, I like Ramen and running around, I hate collor's, chains, cages, and thanks to a certial long ago mission, needles, and hospitals, my plans for the future are to become the first Demon Wolf Hokage, but before that, lets go meet the current Hokage".

Gin laughed, "well, allright then, I guess our wish did come true, maybe we should thank that old Doni in the sound some day" the demon snorted, "I am not old, I am quite young, now come on" he said walking away, Gin, Chikao and Baru looked at each other, "well this is going to be intresting" Baru said, Gin grinned, "yeah I know,...isn't it great!"

Then a voice called back to them "you are going to have to learn, when I say 'lets go' I mean 'lets go' not stand around and talk, now move it before I bite you on the butt!"Baru, Chikao and Gin raced there hearts out to keep up with their new sensei.

Naruto glanced back at the three, they kept up with him while still admiring everything in a slack jawed awe. Naruto grinned, _'what am I getting myself into, I am raising their hopes, I don't even know If I am allowed to have students! oh well, I guess I am going to have to find out, then again Kakashi does owe me, I mean I did give that dauighter of his several thousands of 'horsie rides' while Kakashi was working...'_

* * *

**_so, I finished, and for grammer cheak and spell cheak, I think its good enough I read through and fixed somethings, random note I thought of an awesome poem, here it is._**

**_words are blank..._**

**_they are abstractions of sound_**

**_offering no comfort_**

**_and emmiting only pain._**

**_Created in vain attempts for peace and assurence_**

**_but what they really do is destroy people from inside out_**

**_dragging out a persons life _**

**_until they silence words with a knife._**

**_well thats what I have so far i guess its kinda cool,_**

**_well thats all i have bye bye._**

**_NSW_**


	26. Update!

**Hey, everyone, this Is your author speaking, I am saying, (no I am not stopping the story, so chill) but I just want everyone to know, I will slowly be replacing and redoing some chapters, there may or may not be extra scences placed in the chapters, so whenever I re-do a chapter you may just want to read it again(but you don't have to) I just am doing this so I get more readers who are willing to read this story.**

**Because I think a lot are detoured by the amount of Bad grammer, spelling crap like that. You see I am just a person when I write I want to get the thought down before I lose it, I just write straight through no caring about punctuation or spelling most of the time, and as you read not all of it gets fixed half the time.**

**But I am working thanks to a bunch of friends who are ready to kill me by use of chopsticks. (but you can't really kill Gingers as they have no soul) Yes I just admitted I am a ginger get over it.**

_**So that's it.**_

_**NSW**_


	27. Three suprises

**Chapter 26**

**Life as a Fox**

**NSW**

* * *

"Fluffy...do you expect me to rollover and do whatever you want because you want to do it?" said the Hokage of the hidden leaves. Kakashi looked across his desk to the three young teenagers standing before him. Two boys and a girl, the girl had silver hair like his only lighter and softer, she also had pale green eyes.

The smaller boy had chestnut brown hair and eyes. While the boy on his right had robin egg blue eyes and a bald head. He was also a massive boy, he wasn't fat, he was just built, wide in everything, and tall. Kakashi could see a future taijutsu powerhouse in him.

Naruto cleared his throat, "sir, if one would speak, I think giving these three the opportunity to right their wrongs and to _live, better, fuller, and LONGER _lives would benefit everyone here". Naruto said accenting key words in the sentence knowing Kakashi out of guilt would agree with him.

Kakashi himself was also accenting many key words within his head. He even thought about throwing out a threat Kiba had told him would get Naruto to do anything, but Kakashi had a soft spot for the young student who now was a Demon.

Kakashi sighed, '_ah, what the heck, what trouble could he possibly get into? With three students, plus he needs something to occupy his time, it will help ease over the fact that Sasuke will be released next year.' _Kakashi nodded "fine, you may have students, but on one condition, they have to have the same education as any other Konoha Nin, you three will have to graduate academy".

The three of them got this faraway look which Kakashi for a moment thought it would be called a 'deer in the headlight look' which was absurd, because what in kami's name was a headlight? Kakashi pushed it from mind and forgot about it, as he gave the three of the civilian papers.

While they left, Kakashi called Naruto over, "Naruto, I allowed them in, but, you are the one who is going to have to find them suitable quarters." Naruto grimaced, "can't they stay in my old apartment?" Kakashi glanced at him "are you serious? Three teenagers, with no parental control or guardianship alone in a big city full of new and big things? Are you an idiot?"

Naruto growled "oi! I was just fine by myself!" Kakashi leveled him a glance, "Naruto, you drank expired milk, lived off of ramen, and lived with roaches, you had no idea what a vegetable was until I became your sensei, and you had no sense of personal hygiene either."

Naruto scratched his neck with his back paw, and then shook himself as if to prove a point. Kakashi sighed "you better not have fleas" Naruto grinned "that is for me to know, and you to find out" Naruto padded towards the door but stopped near the planted tree in his office, "oh, look you forgot to water your plant, here let me do that" and Naruto then lifted his leg and did his business and with one last wink he left.

Kakashi then let out a long low audible sigh of exhaustion. Then he proceeded to gently hit his head against his desk.

* * *

Naruto led his students to home, he cleared his throat, "so, let me tell you a little thing about me, I go by many names, and at home, I go by Naruto, just so you are not confused." He paused then continued "I live with Kiba and Hinata Inuzaka, who are very good friends of mine, actually we are more like family, they have an adopted son named Toyi, who now lives in his own little apartment, but he stops by for supper usually."

Naruto slunk through a doggy door, then opened the door from the inside, "come on in" he said grinning, they entered the home, instantly they felt the warmth that radiated in it. Gin thought to herself '_so this is what home feels like'_.

Naruto walked to the back bedroom, "Hinata"? He said out loud he heard a light sniffing then Hinata spoke "come on in Naruto" she said her voice worn from heavy crying. Naruto walked in, Hinata sat on the bed, in her normal house wear, and she smiled softly at Naruto.

She threw something at the garbage, but it missed and landed on the floor, it was a white pregnancy stick, negative. Naruto felt sad, he didn't know it, but when he was sad his ears laid back, and his tail curled beneath him.

He looked up to her, "I'm sorry Hinata, I know you guys have been trying, don't worry it'll happen, I know it will". Hinata smiled and bent down to him "you always make me feel better, and I know it will happen, but I just want to be a mom so bad Naruto, I feel like I am letting Kiba down."

Naruto licked her cheek, "you are not letting him down, don't ever think that, I also want to see you as a mommy, you deserve it, but, I brought you a surprise, three in fact." Hinata looked at him "what is it"? Naruto grinned "well, let's just say you can experience the teenage rebellious years early".

Hinata looked at Naruto strangely, Naruto sighed "I brought some stray's home, they were being misled and I had to save them, then I ended up being their sensei." He sighed, "they need a place to stay, but don't worry I will find a place for them tomorrow." He paused begging her with his eyes, "just the night, three days at most".

Hinata was looking down at him, her mouth in a perfect 'o'. Naruto grinned. The expression on his face was more or less along the lines of _'I know I did something bad, but please don't be mad at me'_. Hinata sighed, "Okay then, where are they?" Naruto wagged his tail, "sitting on the couch" he said while he padded back down the hall.

* * *

Hinata sat on the love seat in the living room, Naruto sat on HIS pillow next to her, it was a very nice pillow, Naruto had custom made for himself, it sat in a large orange basket with a swirl and leaf pattern design. The pillow was made of the finest black satin and was filled with the softest feathers money could buy. (Which he paid for himself, as a gift to himself).

Naruto even had his name embroidered on the pillow, he also had a silver doggie dish that his name on it as well, although no one called it a dog bowl, he preferred to call it his 'silver eating chalice.' Naruto curled himself nice and cozy upon the pillow.

Akamaru, who was getting up there in years, came into the room, if Akamaru were any dog, he would be dead by now, but because of Inuzaka breeding, he was a dog that lasted a lot longer than normal average dogs. Some people have considered the idea that somewhere up in the lines of the Inuzaka dog breeding there was a demon or two, but it was never proven.

Akamaru walked in and sat on his own pillow, which was better than most dogs of the city, but paled in comparison with Naruto's 'throne'. Hinata spoke "so tell me about yourselves" she asked. Gin then entered into the long story of how the three of them grew up as orphans within the sound, no one really cared about them, but they found out they had the potential to be ninja so they set out on a journey to learn how to be just that.

Naruto was surprised when Gin was revealed to be a girl only the age 13. Chikao and Baru were both 14. Naruto cleared his throat, "so how did you all meet?" Baru spoke; he had a deep voice, but was obviously shy, and obviously did not have a lot education.

"I work in the mines, since day I could walked, but I hate it, always dark, not safe, shafts would collapse all the time, people die, I asked myself question, do I want be next? And answered myself 'no', so I left". Gin nodded, "me and Chikao have been with each other since the beginning, we found Baru sleeping under one of our favorite bridges, when we were eight, he had been with us since."

Naruto nodded "I see, well, what do you guys know so far for jutsu's?" Gin looked at the ground and unconsciously her left hand went to play with her hair. Chikao looked down at his hands, and Baru stared blankly at him, something he did commonly.

"I am guessing by the silence none" Gin spoke "well, I can't do jutsu's, but we can walk up trees and across water with our chakra." Naruto nodded "good, those are Chunin level feats". Baru spoke "what Chunin?" Naruto stared at them, "don't you know the hierarchy of Ninja?" all of them stared blankly.

Naruto sighed, he wished he could rub his temples but the best he could do was place a paw over his eyes and snout, a somewhat comic action, that Hinata at times found enduring. "After you graduate the academy, you will be known as Genin, the lowest of the low, grub worms, you do missions like finding lost pets, and cleaning up the lake stuff like that."

Naruto paused "all though, if you're lucky, and have a cool sensei, you sometimes can get better missions." Naruto cleared his throat, "after a while, if you think you are ready, you can apply for the Chunin exams, after that, you have to be selected by the Hokage to be promoted to Chunin, after you reach Chunin, you mostly just have to keep doing missions and earn a reputation, and you soon will be given the status of Jounin, the top dog really."

Naruto glanced at them Chikao and Gin nodded getting it, Baru stared blankly, Naruto looked worriedly at him "don't worry I will explain it to him later" Gin said. Naruto nodded, "well, after Jounin, there is special Jounin, and then Anbu, which has another hierarchy in itself".

Gin groaned, "Who's the top ninja then?" Naruto cleared his throat, "the Hokage, but there are tons of credentials you need for that, which you don't have to worry about, just making it to Jounin would make any person feel great about themselves."

Gin nodded, "so, what are you?" Naruto paused for a second, "I am Anbu, right now just a normal Private, but I will be taking my Captainship exam soon, and so I might get bumped up to Captain." Gin smiled, "well I hope you get it, Fluffy...err...Naruto sensei".

Naruto for a second felt his heart swell with pride, and to think, he thought he would never here those words said to him. He felt a small tear come to his eye; he quickly hid it by taking a lap of water. Naruto looked up suddenly he heard someone at the door, he exploded to his feet, well he and Akamaru did.

"Hinata! Hinata someone is at the door! Someone is at the door!" he yelled, Akamaru barked the equivalent of what Naruto said in dog tongue. Both canines rushed for the window next to the door, Naruto now barking like a normal Wolf, but adding a few fox yips in as well.

Hinata sighed and got up, there was times Naruto seemed like a normal dog, and this was one of those times. Hinata was in the kitchen by the time the knock actually came, "Naruto who is it?" she spoke over the consistent barking "it smells like...cherries! Cherries and...Flowers! Its Sakura and Ino!" Naruto barked excitedly, trying to open the door himself with his paws scrabbling over the door.

Hinata thought to herself _'Kiba just repainted that, look at that, full of claw marks again; I have a mind to clip his nails today'_. Naruto opened the door finally, and attacked Sakura, jumping up and placing his paws on her shoulders, his version of a hug, he panted as he stared up at her.

Sakura giggled, and hugged him, then gave him a kiss on the nose "hello as well Naruto" Naruto dropped down, and sniffed around her legs, "you just got back from Kakashi's office" she nodded "wait! You also smell like dog food! You went to the pet store which means you have-" Sakura laughed and took from behind her back a large juicy meat bone, two in fact.

Naruto wagged his tail and tried jumping up to get it, "no, Naruto, manners see look, Akamaru has manners so he gets his" she said handing the bone to the canine who sat patiently, Naruto sighed and did the same. Sakura gave him his, which had a special ramen, flavored seasoning that Sakura made herself.

Naruto eagerly chomped on the bone and carried his prize to his pillow and began to knaw it. The three teens turned to each other "that's out sensei!" Gin whispered loudly to Chikao, Naruto growled "Quiet! I know, I have my faults, but don't judge me".

He then continued to knaw on the bone drooling slightly. Sakura walked into the living room, "you must be the three new students, Kakashi told me, he also told me, that I can have his plant for some odd reason, which is weird because he liked it, now he says he can't stand it".

Naruto momentarily ceased knawing on his bone; he glanced at Sakura then slowly began to knaw it again, hoping she wouldn't look his way. Sakura saw this out of the corner of her eye and pursed her lips. "Naruto did you do anything to his plant?" Naruto stopped knawing the bone then looked at her with his puppy eyes and whined.

Sakura was not amused she crossed her arms, "what did you do?" Naruto looked down "I may or may not, have relieved myself in his beloved office plant". Sakura glared at him "should I take away that bone of yours?" Ino piped in "oh Sakura, how can you be mad at him, look at that face" she said going up to him, "it's so cute" she said kneeling down and grabbing it by the sides.

Sakura and Hinata sighed, I no always did this, and she had a soft spot for cute things. "Besides, like dog pee is going to harm it, dogs pee on trees all the time." Naruto cuteness level dropped drastically, when she called him a 'dog'.

Ino dropped his head and covered her mouth "oh, sorry I didn't mean it like that". Naruto huffed and turned away from them for a few moments. Gin spoke up, "so you work with the Hokage?" Sakura nodded "he was my sensei, when I was a genin, and now I pop in from time to time to help out, and visit, but most of the time I am at the hospital with my other sensei Tsunade".

Gin stared at her, "you have two sensei's?" Sakura laughed "no, I Kakashi hasn't taught me anything in almost four years, we graduated from him a long time ago, we just still call him Kakashi sensei". Chikao spoke up, "so what does Tsunade teach you?" Naruto piped in, "Tsunade taught Sakura how to be a medic Nin, and I swear, she will one day surpass Tsunade, I seen this women do amazing things".

Sakura blushed "oh Naruto stop, besides I have a lot more to learn, there is always new discoveries to be made" Gin spoke up again, "your hair, is it natural? Or do you dye it?" Sakura touched her hair, "all natural" Gin looked at her with stars in her eyes, "you are my idol".

Sakura and Hinata laughed, "Well, thank you Gin is it?" Gin nodded "and that's Chikao, and Baru" Sakura said hello to each "well, I just wanted to drop by your official schedules tomorrow, you will be going to a special night school class for just you three, your Sensei will be Umino Iruka, who was my teacher in-""Iruka sensei! Oh kami he is still there? Oh boy, you guys are going to have fun!"

Sakura glared at Naruto who hid behind Ino. "Yes, Naruto Iruka sensei is still there now shut-up" Naruto snorted and opened his jaws wide then crossed his eyes, his equivalent of making an annoying face. The three teens laughed at his antic.

Sakura cracked her knuckles, Naruto stopped immediately. Sakura gave a nod, "much better, any way here is your schedule" she said finally handing them the slips of paper. "class starts next week" The three of them looked down at their slips of paper like they were precious gold leaf messages.

After Sakura and Ino left, the three teens were taken on a tour of the house and were found suitable sleeping arrangements. Gin on the couch, with Baru and Chikao sleeping in Naruto's bed while Naruto would sleep on his pillow in the living room with Gin.

They then got down to making supper, all three of them helping out with Hinata, "Baru, can you tell me what the recipe asks for next?" Baru looked down at the book, "well"? she asked waiting, "Baru shook his head, "Baru, can you read?" Baru shook his head "don't need no reading to lift coal, follow orders, never important, just work no think".

Hinata nodded "I see" Gin came over, "I can read a little, it says you need to add, three coops" "cups" Hinata said correcting "cups, of carrr-ots?" "Carrots" Hinata said again, Gin nodded, "yeah, three,...cups...of...carrots" Gin said finally proud of herself.

Hinata turned to Chikao, "can you read?" Chikao shrugged "not really, the symbols are always moving around, I can't concentrate, the doctor at the orphanage said I had some big word Dis...disletic?" "Dyslexia" Hinata said, Chikao nodded "yeah, I'm that".

Hinata felt sad for these three, they would have lived their lives not knowing the full grasp of the world, and all the amazing things you can do in it, if they hadn't of had their dream, Baru would have lived in those coal mines his entire life, Chikao would have became a thief or something worse, and Gin, poor young Gin, she could have become sex slave or prostitute.

Hinata sighed "well, here she said grabbing the book, I will teach you a little bit Baru" she said then began to cook and give reading lessons at the same time.

* * *

The door opened and Kiba stepped inside he put his jacket on the hook next to the door, then opened the closet and placed his Kunai and Shuriken pouches in there, he took of his shoes, and walked into the kitchen smelling the amazing soup Hinata had made.

He was then surprised by three people he had never seen in his life sitting at the table. Naruto looked up at him "um...they followed me home, can I keep them?" Kiba was silent as the four broke into snickers, "Kiba, don't worry, Naruto is going to get the situated somewhere else, soon, so they are spending the night, these are Naruto's students, Gin" she said nodding to the Silver haired girl, "Baru" she said pointing to the big boy with the bald head, "and Chikao" she said pointing to the wiry Brown haired boy.

Kiba sat at his place "so, students that followed you home" he said slyly, "First time I heard of that" "we're from the sound; Naruto saved us from a life of crime". Gin said, "ah, and what crime was that?" "Well helping out a mass band of rapists and pillagers who attack small defenseless villages in the mountains".

Naruto put his jaw on Kiba's knee, begging him not to be mad, Kiba shrugged, "well what can I say, this isn't the first time Naruto brought home orphans". Naruto grinned and then said, "I will not chew your shoes for an entire month".

Kiba laughed then paused, "why do you chew my shoes?" Naruto shrugged "I like the texture, plus the soles squeak". Kiba and Hinata stared at him, "what?" Naruto asked, they were silent.

* * *

One week later

Kiba ducked his head as a kunai whizzed passed, "oh! Cool look how far I threw it this time" Hinata spoke up, "very nice Gin, but no Kunai in the house!" Gin said sorry, Kiba folded up his paper he was reading then turned to Naruto who was fervently studying the classified ads for apartments.

Kiba kept looking at him, Naruto sighs "I know! I know! But I can't find anything that is a three bedroom, close to the academy and allows pets!" Kiba chuckled to himself then went back to his paper.

* * *

Naruto waited patiently beneath the old school yard tree that had the swing he always played on when he was in the academy, he looked up at the massive oak, wondering how many things that tree had witnessed in its massive life time.

When his three students trudged out of the school crest fallen. Naruto sighed sadly and padded up to them, "so?" he asked, already fearing the answer, Gin shook her head. "what! but we practiced making clones for days!" then a slow smile spread across her face.

She brought out from behind her back the Hitai-ate with the leaf symbol engraved in the metal. Naruto put his chest out in pride as Baru and Chikao both held out theirs as well, Naruto grinned, "I knew you did, but you are very good actors I almost didn't believe you for a second."

Naruto grinned up at them, but then a rough voice barked out, "hey, you three move along, I don't want any of you hooligans playing any shenanigans on my watch, and no dogs allowed, so get that mutt out of here". Naruto stifled back a growl.

He turned to glare at the opposing man, and was stunned to see Iruka sensei, only he was different he had a frown on his face and his lips were drawn down in a grimace. He wore all black and walked towards the stiffly, not with the gentle fluid happiness he once had.

Baru, Gin and Chikao grimaced and there smiles faded away instantly. "Well, didn't you hear what I said, get going and take the mutt" "Iruka sensei, this is out Jounin Sensei Na-"Fluffy, Anbu wolf demon" Naruto said interrupting her.

Iruka stared at him then muttered under his breath, "still get going, you graduated now go" Naruto led them out of the gates. Iruka stalked back into the building. "Kami, he is so mean all the time, I heard a kid was chewing gum during class, and he made the write out on the board until his fingers started to bleed".

Baru nodded "I heard he made a kid stand up in front of the class until he wetted himself because he was so afraid of speaking in front of crowds, Then Iruka sensei called him a baby and sent him home crying."

Naruto shook his head this can't be true, that was not the Iruka he knew, he walked the teens to their apartments than walked back home and told this all to Hinata. Hinata listened to him rant without a comment then when he was done she spoke up.

"Naruto what do you expect, he still thinks you are dead" Naruto stared at her "what! I am not that stupid! I am sure I-" Naruto cut off thinking back. Hinata waited patiently for Naruto to come to his own realization. He banged his head into the table; something he kept forgetting hurt his muzzle.

He lifted his head again "I can't believe I forgot to tell him" Naruto stayed like that for several long minutes, "well its better late than never" Hinata said, "come on, let's go talk to Kakashi see what he thinks we should do".

* * *

**well, that's is so far, kind of boring I know, but at least its a chapter, and the re-do chapter are soon going to be on their way, I just have get my beta to come around to some ideas.**

**NSW**


	28. Hey guess what? I'm alive!

**Chapter 27**

**Life as a Fox**

**NSW**

* * *

"Well what do you want me to do about it? You're the idiot who forgot to tell him!" Kakashi yelled at him. Naruto groaned "well I was busy! Excuse me for forgetting to tell some people I wasn't dead, but instead got transformed into a wolf demon! yeah something that is totally believable and easy to comprehend."

Kakashi rubbed his temples, "what happened to him"? Naruto asked, "What do you think? you died, you were like a son to him, what do you think happens when dad's lose their boys?" Naruto sighed "they say he's became bitter" Kakashi snorted, "at first he was depressed, wouldn't eat, wouldn't do anything, he swore to me he would never get like that again, he would never get attached."

Kakashi looked out the window, "which is why he pushes everyone away by being mean to them, he does it so if they do die, he won't feel the pain". Naruto whined, "Why didn't you tell me?" Kakashi glared at him "because you had to keep it a big secret, and while you were parading around as a magical talking dog, who was secretly planning revenge, Iruka was living in a world of pain".

Naruto looked down at the floor ashamed of himself, "you basically became like Sasuke when it comes to Iruka, and you totally ignored his feelings and went out on your quest for revenge". Naruto whimpered and buried his head into the chair pillow.

Kakashi sighed and got up, "I am not going to do your dirty work, besides, you have always been good at saving people you love, and you do it better than me, now go to him". Naruto looked up at Kakashi, "thank-you, Kakashi" Kakashi cleared his throat "so what are you going to say to him?" Naruto shrugged "I'm just going to go to his door step and say 'hi, Iruka sensei! Remember me! It's me Naruto, only I got changed into Wolf Demon by the kyuubi during the war, sorry for not telling you".

Kakashi stared at him "that's it!" Naruto shook his head "no, I am going to take him out for ramen after, duh" Kakashi face palmed himself, "Naruto! You idiot! You can't do that! It's...its stupid! And insane, and you have no idea if it's going to work!"

Naruto snorted "Kakashi if it doesn't work, I will have Ino erase his memories, and try it another way" Kakashi's visible eye twitched in irritation. He flicked Naruto on the snout, "dumb...demon, bad stupid idiotic moron!" Naruto growled, "I can make all the homeless dogs in the village howl all night outside your window you know!"

Kakashi muttered several oaths under his breath, "fine, try it, but don't come crying to me when he doesn't believe you."

* * *

Naruto knocked on Iruka's door, Iruka opened it up looking around for someone, but not noticing Naruto on the mat in front of him, until Naruto cleared his throat. "What the- oh, you are that Demon sensei right? Well...what do you want"?

Naruto cleared his throat, "to talk, may I come in?" Iruka was dubious but stepped aside, "just don't drag any dirt in" Iruka commented as Naruto stepped in. Naruto didn't let his annoyance show. "I would offer you tea, but I don't think you drink it".

Naruto nodded "you would be correct, besides I am not thirsty, I came to talk about" "your students? They are okay, average at best, I don't see them making past Chuinin" Naruto bite back his anger. "Well...we will see, but I didn't come to talk about that, I came to talk about your teaching methods."

Iruka crossed his arms, "listen, you might as well get out, I am not going to listen to yet another person chew me out about being 'mean' to their kids!". Naruto sighed, "I understand why you are mean to them, and you don't want them to get close, don't you?"

Iruka paused his mouth open, he looked stunned, he instantly closed it, "you...what are you talking about?" "You lost someone didn't you? A student of yours, and you were filled with pain, so much pain that you would rather live a life filled with nothing then to have to live through another deep loss like that again, am I correct?"

Iruka backed away "how! Can you read minds?" Naruto shook his head, "no, contrary to belief, I can't read minds, I can sense emotion though, just a little, but someone would have to be a complete dunce not to notice your motives."

Iruka stood stunned, "I...don't know what to say" "who was he?" Iruka glared at him "how did you know it was a he?" Naruto cursed in his head "well, it was a guess, seeing as; younger male teachers try to stay away from getting in a close relationship with female students".

Naruto hoped Iruka bought it "true, you are right, that does make sense, but yeah, it was a boy, he was an orphan, and I saw a lot of myself in him, I took him under my wing, taught him everything I knew, and yet I still failed him, he died in the war, he was a hero."

Naruto nodded "you know, that reminds me of a saying I once heard, 'When a person dies, he disappears, along with his past, current lifestyle, and his future. Many people die in missions and wars. They die easily and in surprisingly simple ways." Naruto took a deep breath; Iruka had a far off look to him "He was one of them, wasn't he?" Iruka nodded Naruto smirked "Those who die have goals and dreams. But everyone has something as important as those. Parents, siblings, friends, lovers... people who are important to you. They trust and help each other. The bond between the people who are important to you since birth has a string that binds them." Naruto took a breath but Iruka spoke next "becomes thicker and stronger as time goes by... It's beyond reason. Those bound to you by that string will do that because it is important."

Iruka stood there like a statue, Naruto looked up at him, Iruka's eyes were glistened over, Naruto spoke softly, "I want to say something else Iruka" Iruka looked down at him suddenly. "You never failed me, Iruka sensei, I failed you." Naruto then turned to leave.

Iruka snapped back into reality, "wait! It can't be possible! you-" Naruto turned to him, "do you really think death could hold me back from being Hokage Iruka?" Iruka stared at him, and then slumped to his knees, "your...dead, you died, you can't be" Naruto sighed and walked over "come, I will tell you a story, if you have ramen, you should crack it out" After a pause Naruto added "and sake, something tells me we need that as well".

* * *

Iruka stared at him from across the table, many bowls of Ramen littered the table, and most of them empty, as Naruto finished his eighth bowl. Iruka took another swig of Sake that was ninth. "So...you died" Naruto nodded "but before you did, you made a deal with the Kyuubi, which bound the Kyuubi to attack only the Akatsuki..." Naruto nodded.

Iruka rubbed his temples, "but, it also made you unable to go to heaven, so you wandered as a ghost, until the Kyuubi found you, then he called upon his goddess, whom I have never heard of, who turned you into a Wolf Demon".

Naruto nodded "yes, however, technically, I am a wolf/fox demon, but only fox like in behavior" Iruka stared at him. "Okay, I see, so you are now in this body, and you are happy?" Naruto nodded "quite, I can go to the bath room wherever I want... relatively...and I can eat whatever I want out of the garbage."

Iruka stared at him his mouth gaping, "hey! You won't believe how amazing mold makes some stuff" Iruka started to turn green, the staggered to his garbage and began to puke. Naruto sighed, "You drank too much Sake, and you can never hold your liquor well".

Iruka muttered under his breath, "well I am going to head home Iruka, I will drop by soon" Naruto got up (staggering slightly from the Sake) Iruka nodded, "oh and Iruka?" Naruto added before he left, Iruka looked at him, "never stop being you no matter what happens to you or others around you, because if I hear you become a 'tyrant' again I will be there ready to snap you back into shape".

Naruto then left, Iruka smirked slightly, for the first time in almost two years, he felt happy, he felt...at peace with himself, and with the world around him. He turned to his student's paperwork as if viewing it for the first time. He read through and saw how much he had lost himself, instead of placing tips on how to do something or encouragement, he just marked the answer wrong and actually wrote stuff on how idiotic that person was.

Iruka felt shame fill up inside him, "who could I have lived so...blindly"? He said to himself as he went through and re-corrected all the papers he had. Then he moved to his lesson book and re-did his lessons plan as well.

After almost three hours of work he finally put the last of his papers away, he sighed and stretched his weary body and got up. He fixed himself some tea, and then took the trash out. Iruka stepped outside and climbed up to his roof to watch the famous Konoha sunset.

He looked up at the last of the suns dying rays and said, "Thank-you Naruto for saving me" "ah so he did tell you" Iruka turned to see Kakashi, "oh, hello Hokage" Kakashi sighed and sat down casually taking off his Hokage hat. "I am off duty" he said stretching.

Iruka smirked, "so you knew?" Kakashi nodded, "he kept it mostly a secret and didn't reveal it to anyone until he had Sasuke where he wanted him." Iruka nodded "yeah he told me, so why didn't he tell me?" Kakashi scratched his head "well...he kind of forgot about you, until recently".

Iruka stared at Kakashi, "HE FORGOT!" Kakashi backed up a few feet, "that, little! After everything I did for him and taught! I was practically like a father to him! And he forgot about me! Oh! The next time I see that little runt I am going to give him...err...a detention for a thousand years! That will teach him not to forget about me the next time he dies and comes back to life"!

Kakashi stared at Iruka who was bent over and panting from his rant. Kakashi spoke, "well...then I see, I will just be going, and give you some time...to adjust, I have to go home and see my girls". Iruka nodded and Kakashi disappeared in a poof of smoke.

Iruka sighed and sat down, the sun had disappeared completely now, and dusk had settled over the village. Iruka smiled then began to laugh for no reason in particular, it felt as though he hadn't laughed in a long while, and for the first time in a long time, he laughed until he cried.

* * *

**NSW**


	29. What is that?

**Chapter 28**

**Life as a Fox**

**NSW**

* * *

Naruto got up his head throbbing as if someone had used his head as a punching bag. He groaned as he peeled himself off the living room floor, only a few steps away from his nice soft pillow bed. He dragged himself literally across the floor to the kitchen.

He groaned as tried to lap up some water to quench his thirst, "good morning" Kiba said extra loud today. Naruto whimpered and covered his ears, which were super sensitive enough when he didn't have a hang over. Kiba grinned "and how is Naruto today?" he asked loudly getting right down in his ears. Naruto glared up at the brunette "Naruto wants to kill a certain brunette and blame said murder on Akamaru" he answered icily.

Kiba laughed and ruffled his fur, Naruto groaned and tried to snap at him, but was sluggish and slow, and inevitably missed. Hinata came out humming under his breath, Naruto groaned "why do the gods hate me so much?, can't a wolf around here get some peace and quiet after a night of over indulgence of alcohol!".

Hinata chuckled "sorry Naruto, I am just in a good mood right now, here do you want me to get you something to eat?" Naruto nodded slowly, while Hinata got to work making his food. Akamaru suddenly dashed in and was barking at the top of his lungs.

Naruto moaned "oh come on!" he yelled as Akamaru barked at the door, then a loud rapping came from the other side of the door. Naruto buried his head into his paws, he screamed "Akamaru shut-up!" Akamaru did. Naruto glared at the door, "who ever is there come in quietly!" he yelled as well.

Silently entered his students tiptoeing across the floor, "morning you three, don't worry Naruto is just having a hang over right now, so that's why he's being so troublesome" Baru spoke, "he's drunk?" Naruto glared at him "no, a hangover mean's I was drunk last night,...dumb ass" he muttered under his breath.

Hinata however heard this, "Naruto' she warned in a stern voice, Naruto sighed, "okay team, here is your mission, ...go home and prepare for a mission tomorrow, that is your mission, and you get extra credit if you leave as silently as possible".

The three nodded and tip toed out of the house. Naruto sighed as he began to eat food, by afternoon, his hangover was beginning to fade. Naruto left for work, he headed towards the Anbu head quarters.

Naruto walked into the medic ward, "next apply the pressure into these three areas, this will staunch the blood flow and chakra flow in one move" Naruto cleared his throat Gomeg looked down, "ah, Fluffy, what can I do you for?" Naruto grinned up at the old badger, "I need something to clear my head a little more".

Gomeg hopped down, "here let me see" Gomeg placed one gnarled claw on his forehead, "ah, I see, up late indulging in spirits weren't we?" Naruto muttered under his breath, "yes, I drank more Sake then I could manage, thank you Gomeg, now get me something to fix it". Gomeg grinned and scurried over to his medicine cabinet, he started picking out different leaves and berries and began to mash them together.

Gomeg finished with that then returned back to Naruto's side. "here drink" Naruto took one sip and began to choke '_what on the gods green earth is this crap'_ he thought to himself as he disdainfully tried to get the in-holy mix down his throat. But once he got it down, he felt a lifting on his head, as if someone lifted a veil, he was ten times better.

He smiled, "thank-you Gomeg, it...helped" Gomeg grinned, "Red Rowan berries soaked in elk piss, always works" Naruto began to gag, '_ah! I drank elk piss! ewe ewe ewe! okay note to self never go to Gomog for help again!' _The three medic nin in training scrunched their noses. Naruto left instantly after that.

Naruto continued up to Mammoth's office, "morning Mammoth" he said walking into the office, Mammoth acknowledged him with a nod, "have a seat" Naruto did. Mammoth finished his paper he was working on, "so, I hear from the Hokage you now have three students" Naruto nodded "that's good, very good, and I suppose you want time now to train them?" Naruto nodded.

Mammoth sighed heavily, "well...that's a little problem, you see, usually its only Jounin who take on students, we Anbu, don't but, since you already have done the paperwork and everything we will have to let you off, on one condition" Naruto nodded "name it" Mammoth stood up, "about a week ago, a Konoha messenger bird trainer came a cross something rather unusual, and we were wondering if you could help us with it".

Naruto nodded, "of course" Mammoth stood up "follow me". Naruto did so, Mammoth led him down into the belly of Anbu head quarters, down into the basement, past the record files room, past the generator room, past the secret files room, past the confidential files, past all these.

Until finally Mammoth stopped at a good he didn't even know they had, it was a simple blank door, but Mammoth did a weird hand sign and muttered something under his voice so quietly, even Naruto couldn't hear what he said. The door opened to reveal a long flight of stairs leading down into darkness.

Naruto and Mammoth walked down the steps, they were old and squeaked and sagged under their weight. Finally they reached the bottom, with the slight scuffing of Mammoths shoes on the floor, and the clacking of Naruto's claws, they walked down a long corridor to a door that was illuminated with light from behind.

It was a quite eerie a interesting sight to behold. Finally they reached said door. Mammoth opened it with ease the door swung open, and revealed a room, almost as big a s a standard living room. It was bare, the walls painted an off white, the only things that were housed within the room, was a table, a chair then a cart that had an odd arrangement of cut meats.

Naruto sniffed disdainfully, on the table there looked to be some sort of covered object, but from the illumination of light from the ceiling, he could see a shadow moving around underneath the tan cover that covered the object. Naruto glanced up to Mammoth.

Mammoth looked down at him, Naruto stepped foreword, his ears at attention and his nostrils flaring, trying to register, exactly what was underneath the canvas. Mammoth moved forward, and removed the cover with one quick gesture.

Naruto jumped back as a flurry of screeching and snaps was heard. Naruto paused only to see a flurry of feathers smack the sides of the cage like a missile. Then all of the feathers fell down to the floor of the cage, and was still. The only movement was the heaving of its sides up and down.

Naruto stepped forward, "what is it?" he asked Mammoth, the creature suddenly tried to attack him, it managed to get one of its clawed hands through the cage bars, it nicked Naruto across the nose. Naruto backed away in annoyance.

He growled a warning. It was then Naruto could see what it was, it was a bird of some sort, a large one, most likely a hawk or even a golden eagle. Naruto looked closer, no...it was a hawk but a hawk he had never really seen before it was white, but had grayish black streaking and barring throughout the plumage.

Naruto looked at the wings, long and broad, and ended in a point. It had quite large eyes in comparison with its head. and a short, but wickedly curved beak. "It's a gryfalcon" Mammoth said, Naruto looked to him, "a gyrfalcon?, how come I never heard of it?"

Mammoth nodded "maybe because it only lives in colder regions, it prefers to pray on other birds" Naruto nodded "why is it here?" "_kje sem_!" the hawk screamed, at first Naruto was confused, but then something clicked in his head, it was speaking demon, it had just said 'where am I?'.

Naruto cleared his throat, he wasn't sure if he could speak demon fluently enough, it was just basic instinct embedded in his D.N.A. "_varnosti v mon vaj_" Naruto said to the Gyrfalcon, the falcon suddenly relaxed and trained his eyes on him.

There was a silence, Naruto and the Gyrfalcon studied each other for a long time, then he spoke again (if the words are Italicized then they are speaking in demon, if not its plain, English, I am doing this because I am tired of translating everything)

_"who are you"?_

_"I am Fluffy, the Wolf Demon"_

_"I am Sokol, Gyrfalcon of the north"_

Naruto nodded to him _"how did you get here?" _The bird shrugged _"I don't know, I got caught in a very big wind, it carried me far, I am lost". _Naruto nodded _"you are in a village where humans live Sokol" _Sokol snapped his beak at Mammoth _"I don't like Human's they find me, then trap me, me hate humans"._

Naruto sighed _"they did it for your own protection, they are very sorry" _Sokol looked at Naruto, _"why do you side with them?" _he asked _"because humans are my friends" _Sokol stared at him, _"you are a weird Demon, you know that?" _

Naruto grinned, _"you should meet Gomeg" _Sokol cocked his head to the side, _"there are more Demons among humans?" _Nodded, _"yes me and Gomeg, we are the first of many, Konoha wishes to create a place where humans and Demons can live together and peace"._

Sokol shook his head "_such things could never happen, peace cannot be achieved between humans and Demons_" Naruto shook his head "_no, you are mistaken Brother, peace can always be achieved as long as there is someone left to fight for it"._

Sokol clacked his beak as he thought about what Naruto said, "_why should I believe you? I mean look what humans have done to me already, here I am in a cage away form the sky and all I love_". Naruto turned to Mammoth "release him" Mammoth nodded and leaned forward and did so.

Sokol came out of the cage he stretched his wings, in sheer happiness. He looked at Mammoth, "_you speak so freely with them, how_?" Naruto shrugged "easy I trust them" Sokol ruffled his feathers "_I don't know how...where exactly am I_?" Naruto smirked as he watched the bird look around confused "_in a room of the Anbu head quarters"._

Sokol looked at him confused "_yes well, I don't like it, I can't feel the wind_" Naruto nodded agreeing, "_come let's take a walk_." Sokol leaped down from the table and walked alongside Naruto since his wingspan was to large for the hallways.

While they walked up, and up and up, Naruto and Sokol talked, Sokol as it turned out, was actually on a scouting hunt when he ran into a hurricane like storm, somehow he had managed to survive the storm, but it left his extremely weakened.

He spoke of how pray was few and how his family slowly starved to death, females were not getting nutrients to lay good strong eggs instead they laid eggs that had shells so weakened they cracked and broke easily. So hatchlings were few as well, and even if they did have hatchlings the adults could barely feed themselves let alone hatchlings.

Naruto nodded understanding his troubles. "_so how do you plan to get back_?" Sokol shrugged "_fly I guess, It will take a long while_". Naruto nodded agreeing, who knew exactly how far north this bird was from.

Naruto and Sokol finally made it to the outside world, with a shrill cry of happiness Sokol took off into the air and began to fly around in wide circles dipping and diving out of the sky, feigning attacks at Naruto. Naruto laughed and dodged away form his new friends playful attacks, then Sokol screeched and suddenly there was a burst of feathers, Naruto watched in avid interest as Sokol feasted on a large fat pigeon that had no idea what had hit him.

Sokol snapped his beak greedily, "_the prey here, is fat and stupid, and so much of it_"! He screeched chasing at other birds, flying past them then winging around to fly at them again. Naruto laughed at his antics. Sokol nodded "_I see why you like this place, plenty of food to eat, even for you wolves_."

Sokol preened his feathers, "this place is quite nice, I would love to show my mate this" Naruto was surprised "_you have a mate_?" Sokol nodded "the most beautiful Gryfalcon of the north, she is like no other, and having her is like no other feeling in the world".

Naruto listened to him in avid interest "_what is it like_?" Sokol looked at him "_you mean a handsome,powerful wolf like you hasn't found yourself a mate? that is quite suprising, but it's like the moment you see her truly, it's like everything else form the world vanishes, as if she is your only thing, she is your sun, your moon, your day and night, everything, and you would do anything to protect her and make her yours_".

Naruto nodded that did sound like something out of a dream, but would he ever really find aomething like that? I mena it was hard enough to find other demons let alone females of his species. Sokol looked up at him "_I have an idea my finely furred friend". _

Naruto looked at Sokol and at the perticular light in his eyes, _'what the heck does this bird have up his wing_?' Naruto asked himself.

* * *

**Well I hope you enjoyed.**

**NSW**


	30. Road trip!

**Chapter 29**

**Life as a Fox**

**NSW**

* * *

Sokol munched on a robins head while he, Naruto and Gomeg sat in a group with each other, all three demons sat outside, they waited for Sokol to finish his fourth bird. With a final snap he swallowed the bird head then began to preen his feathers. "Here is my proposition" He finally said "during the summer months my kind will fly down here and lay our eggs and raise our hatchlings, then we will return back home during the winter months, the rabbit population, and other bird populations should be in good number by the time we return".

Naruto nodded it seemed like a good idea, a lot of birds migrate to other places to rear there young then return back to their homeland, when the young were ready. "sounds fine, but the village I don't think will be to happy with scores of Gyrfalcon demons coming to Konoha for extended months without getting nothing in return" Sokol snapped his beak while he thought.

He fianlly came to one "here is what we will do, you have messenger bird system no? well what bird's fly better and faster then demons? me and a few other fliers, we come and be messengers for you, would village be happy then? not permanent of course, we can have three wings that switch on and off throughout the year". Naruto looked to Gomeg, "as long as it is okay with your kin" Gomeg said.

Sokol hopped towards him "do not worthy old badger, we Gyrfalcon will gladly serve, the survival of our race depends on it, but of course I will have to convince them". Sokol thought about it "you wolf demon, come with me to my homeland, you can help our cause, you can weave great stories of how great place is, plus you can meet my mate".

Naruto was unsure "I don't know I will have to take it up with my bo-" "Go fluffy, that's an order" Mammoth's voice suddenly said Naruto looked over "are you sure?" Mammoth nodded Gomeg suddenly spoke "I wish to go as well, besides there are certain medical herbs and supplies that can only be found in the far north". Mammoth thought about it for several moments "what about the healers?" Gomeg grinned "this can be test, I have taught them now let us see how well they do under pressure".

Mammoth nodded "very well then, start heading out by sun down" Naruto nodded and ran towards home, he dashed through the door, past Kiba and Hinata who were making out in the kitchen "I have to go on a mission in the north to convince some Gyrfalcon demons that it's okay to come here, so I will be gone a while!" Both Hinata and Kiba paused as Naruto drug out his special back pack and began to dash from room to room grabbing things to put in his bag.

He got everything and then stuffed them into the bag, then got the bag on his back. He trotted back into the kitchen "hold on" Hinata leaned down and kissed him on the forehead "be safe, and don't get hurt" Naruto grinned "come on Hinata, I never get hurt" She glared at him, "okay, maybe a couple times, but come on how was I supposed to know a crazy dude would kidnap me and use me for scientific tests! so that doesn't count!"

Naruto left and returned back to the Anbu head quarters Gomeg was packed and ready to go, Gomeg threw his bag on Naruto's back "that's it?" Naruto asked Gomeg shook his head then jumped unto Naruto back, Naruto groaned "this is going to be one long trip" he muttered to himself then he looked up to Sokol in the sky, who did a whirl in the sky then with a loud piercing cry he flew towards his home land.

* * *

**So that's what I have so far, it's a short chapter, actually this whole thing that I have suddenly wrote is not going by the time line I wrote out for this story so now I am basically winging everything until I get back to my original story line.**

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	31. Demons in the stars

**Chapter 30  
**

**Life as a Fox**

**NSW**

* * *

Baru, Gin and Chikao stared at Hinata "wait...he left!" Hinata nodded "yes...he had some business that came up, and he had to leave right away" Baru, Gin and Chikao sighed "now what are we going to do?" Hinata sighed "I know you guys really want to learn from Naruto, and he really wanted to teach you, but Naruto is a very prominent and important person to this village and sometimes there isn't enough of his to go around".

The three of them sighed Hinata smiled "come then, I will show you some things" The three kids jumped up and down happily and followed her outside.

* * *

Naruto looked up Sokol was almost a blotch against the crystal clear sky. They had traveled far and fast, Naruto never slowing down he ran at a steady lopping pace. Sokol lead them past places Naruto had been too, they went through places Naruto had never seen before, but not being able to stop for obvious reasons he had to pass up the new sights.

Farther and farther north they traveled, running by day and well into the night before they stopped and rested Gomeg giving Naruto special poultices and healing tea to heal him and to give him his strength back. Slowly ever so slowly the tree's turned into deciduous ones, then slowly they began to taper off. Revealing an empty landscape of jagged rocks randomly scattered out through the area as if a child-god had a tantrum and threw the massive stones about.

The land sloped and flowed in a continuous stream of white and grays mixing and clashing together to cast an almost mystical feel to the land. Loose snow drifted in small clouds over the hard ice crusted snow. Naruto looked about in amazement, this land held a cold, distant beauty, everything in it seemed thousands of years old, and untouched.

During the morning and at night the sun would rise above the horizon and cast a tricky glare over the snow as the crystals refracted the light. Naruto would gaze in wonderment at this new beauty, he breathed in the crisp clean air, and listened to the gentle breeze of the wind that carried no sound accept for the occasion of a bird chirping to the light crunching of snow as a creature moved through it.

Other than that, this land was empty devoid of most commonalities, but after three days of traveling in this land Naruto soon began to notice then at first what he thought was nothing was actually life hidden. On the rocks grew linchins and moss, and near the bases of these rocks small flowers barely an inch high grew, there small heads shivered in the wind.

He watched as the rabbits and mice fed off of these little plants. He also noted that here and there the heads of wheat like grass and they fed random small birds that seemed to be flightless. Naruto enjoyed his time, it was quite relaxing he felt bad about leaving his student's without warning, but he couldn't control his life like most, sometime crap came up randomly in his path and he either had to avoid it or grit his teeth and step in it.

That night Naruto looked up to the stars that shone much brighter than usual because of the clearness of the sky. Gomeg looked up at them with him. "Look" he suddenly said pointing behind Naruto. Naruto turned to be amazed the sky was alive and dancing with light, so many color and hues so many smooth and large shapes, constantly moving and growing.

Naruto sat there dumbstruck it was magnificent a truly unexplainable sight to behold. The lights lasted for what seemed like hours but soon they slowly began to fade and dim then they retracted, and then disappeared from all but their memories.

Sokol nodded "the Great Spirit Bridge is one of the greatest sights to behold in your life" Naruto glanced over to him "the what?" Gomeg interrupted "you see Fluffy, the demons of the north have a more mystical and traditional view of the world."

Gomeg cleared his throat and continued "the great spirit bridge is believed to made of the souls of demons and animals, up there they live on forever in a place of peace and prosperity, and it is said that they are up there to guide other demons" Naruto looked at him "guide them where?"

Gomeg grinned "that's the thing no one knows, not really it has been lost, but there are some theories some believe they are guiding you to an oasis if the demon is lost, others say they will guide you to your certain doom and death, and yet other say that if you are on the highest mountain when the bridge appears you will be taken to the original home of demon's...the other world...or as the humans call it, the spirit world".

Naruto was lost in deep thought for sometime after, _'could there possibly be a way into the spirit world besides being transported by summoning demons...or was it possible that summoning demons were like regular demons...only stronger_? Naruto thought about this 'what is the difference between summoning demons and...well...him?'

Naruto contemplated about this, "Gomeg, what is the difference between the summoning demons and us?" Gomeg smirked, "my dear boy, the difference is, summoning demons are the children of the divine demons, the original demons".

Naruto glanced at him "remember the story that I told you of the 13th Goddess?" Naruto nodded "well after she left the palace of the souls, she didn't right away go to earth, she went to a land between the realms, and there she made a demon pair in the image of each animal species that was on earth".

Naruto listened intently as Gomeg continued "she continued to do this until there was many demons of each species, then she placed certain individuals on the earth to populate the demons on earth, however when she placed the demons on earth something happened to their power, you see in the in-between realm the demons were filled with the cosmic energy that filled the realm making them stronger and if I might add quite larger than normal, massive even".

Naruto nodded understanding this as he thought about Gamabunta. "but when they went on earth, their powers were greatly diminished, and they lost their life spans greatly shortened. Now don't get me wrong they are still powerful compared to humans and animals, but compared to summoning demons...we don't stand much of a chance".

Naruto thought about this "then how is it, when they are summoned here they maintain their power?" Gomeg grinned "nothing slips past you don't it?" Gomeg continued "you see we summon them, that's how, summoning is only temporarily, and it is able to sneak past the curse that was laid upon the earth".

Naruto glanced at him "what curse?" "when the earth was created the father god, uttered a curse on the earth after the 13th goddess left, he said that "any demon that enters earth of his own free will. will have his power taken and life force sapped from him".

Naruto nodded understanding "I see...so when a demon is summoned he by-passes this curse because he is not going to earth of his own free will, he is being forced to come to earth and so his power and life force stay with him" Gomeg nodded "exactly".

Naruto thought for a second, "what if we were to enter the other realm? what would happen to us?" Gomeg sighed "Fluffy, the only way for us to enter that realm, is for us to forfeit our life in this one" A chill ran down his spine, "so...you mean, the summoning world is basically a demon heaven?" Gomeg nodded "basically, but the thing is, once you die, there is no coming back to this realm, you don't get a second chance at life Fluffy".

Naruto nodded but bite back the comment "but what if you have gotten a second chance, what then?" Instead he remained silent, then turned over on his back and looked up into the stars, he didn't quite remember when he slipped into sleep, but when he did he dreamed he was running on a bridge made of rainbows, racing against falling stars.

* * *

The next day they traveled they finally came across some landscape features, it was almost like a valley only covered in a thick sheet of packed snow. Naruto felt a charge in the air, as if something was going to happen soon, he didn't know why but he just felt it.

Suddenly the ground began to shake and quiver. Sokol shot down next to him "you might want to get to higher ground, there is a migration coming this way". Naruto was confused at the birds words but then he seen not but fifty meter's away a very large herd of strange looking animals.

They looked like deer, only much bulkier, and stalkier, with odd knobby legs with wide flat hooves. Their fur was dark on their neck and flanks but turned quite light in the midsection of the body. They had shaggy beards along their necks and going down to their stomach.

Naruto was stunned at the large antlers on their skulls, he couldn't imagine moving his head with them, he looked closet and noted that all of them add antlers both male and females. The antlers themselves were also oddly shaped.

They curved out tall, and had these strange almost finger like projections on the wide beams of the horns. Gomeg turned to him "they are Caribou" Naruto glanced at him "caribou?" Gomeg nodded "yes, now let's get out of their way shall we?" Naruto turned and ran up the side of the valley hill he reached the top then turned and watched as the massive numbers moved through; the herd had to have at least 300 if not more.

Naruto looked to Sokol who preened himself on a nearby rock "where are they going?" Sokol looked down at them "to their spring birthing grounds, these are all females and juvenile males" Naruto looked at Sokol "where are the mature males then?"

Gomeg shrugged "they wander around in a heard of their own until the females are ready to breed again, then the males will fight for a handful of females here and there then form small or large bands and wander during the summer mating as they go, then the females will leave the male and form their large herd then the cycle repeats.

Naruto shook his head "I don't know how you know so much about so many things" Gomeg smiled "it's easy, give up your eyes and you will be fully compensated with knowledge". Naruto smirked but continued to watch the herd; it took a while for them to move past then.

Suddenly Sokol shot up into the air, screeching at the top of his lungs, as two other screeching birds came after him. Naruto was startled "what are they doing!" Gomeg shrugged "from the sounds of things, maybe trying to kill him who knows".

Naruto stared at Gomeg "well can't we do something?" Gomeg scoffed "sure be quiet so I can concentrate on growing wings, then I will fly up and help him out". Naruto glared at the badger.

* * *

**Well that is it so far, hope you enjoyed, (the stuff about the caribou I remember vaguly from a discovery channel thing, if you know more about artic or alasken wilderness please om me with info.)**

**NSW**


	32. The elders

**Chapter 31**

**Life as a Fox**

**NSW**

* * *

Naruto was about to attack the other two birds with a long range attack when Sokol screeched out "my beautiful lady of the wind! The Gyrfalcon of my eye! my wing mate!" Then he and the other bird began to circle around each other in a lovingly way.

The other bird dropped down to the rock, his wings outstretched in a threatening manner. His curved beak hissed at them, which is something Naruto would like to know how birds did that. He was a very large Gyrfalcon, bigger then Sokol, he was older too. He looked to be at the top of his prime, the way his very large talons curved, and the way his muscular body moved.

He screeched warningly at Naruto and Gomeg "who are you! State your business!" Naruto and Gomeg turned to one another. Gomeg nodded to Naruto, Naruto cleared his throat "we are demons form the land of fire; we have come in peace, and with a proposition". The bird remained glaring he only relaxed slightly, Sokol landed "they speak the truth, and I suggest we take what they offer".

* * *

Sokol explained to Botis about the village hidden in the leaves and the offer that lay there. Botis listened while intently glaring at Naruto and Gomeg; Naruto finally figured that this was just how Botis looked. In a way Botis reminded Naruto of Sasuke, he was always distrustful of anyone and always sat arrogantly where ever he was and with whatever company he was with, not caring if he made the others un comfortable with his ever constant glare. (This was caused thanks to a few large scratches on his forehead that ran to the edge of his beak.)

Botis finally spoke after the longest time, "a new hatchling grounds in the basics of it, in exchange for...messengers?" Sokol glanced at Naruto. Naruto spoke "yes...what say you?" Botis snapped his beak "I and my mate have lost our hatchlings for the past three seasons, if there is any chance to save my mate from the pain one last season I would gladly do it, even if it is with..._humans" _Botis hissed.

Sokol spoke "do you think the others would agree?" Botis sighed "you know have the seasons have been, you see the sadness in every Gyrfalcon's eye, I think we would actually have a good support for this". Sokol's mate spoke up, "I detest humans as much as the next Demon, but for the chance of saving my hatchlings, and our race, I would be willing to work with them."

She continued "I mean brother Botis, look here stands a Wolf demon one of the first seen in this land in many years, and here stands a..."Badger" Gomeg said. She grinned "yes...a Badger demon, the first ever I have seen, kin of our own, maybe not of the sky, but of our heart and soul".

Botis nodded "yes...your point sister?" She continued "Wolf demons have been known to be excellent judges of character, they have ancient abilities in their blood that most demons do not have, they know things, and can see things others of our race cannot, if he trusts them, I think we should as well".

Naruto glanced at Gomeg wondering what Sokol's mate was talking about, but Gomeg gave him a glance that said 'I will tell you later'. Naruto pushed it from mind. Sokol's mate spoke one last time "we should take them to the Elder's"

Instantly both male Gyrfalcons' leaped in surprise "are you sure?" Sokol asked, even Botis looked concerned. "Who are the elders?" Naruto asked "they are the ones who dictate all" Botis said "they say when the colony shell move to the next hunting grounds, they say when we shall begin to nest, they say who can mate who, they are all knowing, the oldest of our kind, highly revered, and highly feared".

Botis paused, and grinned softly to himself as if he was proud he had rhymed but he then fluffed his feathers and shook it away. Naruto nodded "I see, we have the same thing in Konoha, but...different" Botis scoffed "I would not think humans would have the ability to respect and care for others let alone each other".

Naruto spoke "tell me, why do you hate humans so?" Botis paused "well...humans...they...they...well they hunt us demons down and destroy them" Naruto spoke "did you see this for yourself?" Botis paused "well ...no, no I did not" Naruto answered "then you heard it?" Botis nodded "well...yes".

Naruto grinned "one should get to know there enemy before they judge them, maybe it would turn out that your 'enemy' would be a great ally" Botis nodded "I...ah...see, very well" he said fluffing his feathers, "I will lead you to the elders".

Sokol glanced at them "do you have that right?" Botis shrugged "no, but I should, I have served them faithfully since the day I hatched, I am a great warrior, and my name has reached even their gracious ear tufts". Naruto smirked he was beginning to like this demons named Botis.

* * *

Botis lead them through the wilderness, until from out of nowhere two sheer large rocks jutted up out of the earth. From the distance Naruto could see the scores of Birds flying about, he could hear the dozens of cries from them all, as they called out to each other.

When they got closer he noticed that birds saw them and began to fly about them from the distance, Sokol, Ipos (his mate) and Botis flew a short distance above them, almost as if keeping them safe from something. The birds flew closer, but still stayed at least twenty feet away, Naruto could pick up murmurings of conversation.

'_...it's a Wolf demon...' 'What is that thing on his back...is it some sort of deformity'...'no it's another demon...''I have never seen...them before...' 'What are those three thinking...bring them here...the elders will not be happy' _More and more of the conversations were about what the elders would say and do.

Finally Botis lead them through an opening between the two rocks, all about above them, nests were built in crevices and large cracks, opening slabs of rocks housed several birds basking in the sun. All of them got up and moved to the edges to glance down at them, everything was a flurry of feathers, squawks, and chirps.

Naruto could see young hatchlings, several of them fighting over a tiny lemming body that would only feed one of them half their size. All around he saw the looks of hunger and sickness. Dull eyes and feathers, contrasted greatly next to those who had been able to maintain themselves by constantly hunting the tiny unsatisfying lemmings.

Botis then said "wait here, I shall call the elders" Naruto paused; the whispers grew and grew louder until they were deafening shrieks in his ears. Botis flew up high almost to the top of the two great rocks, and then something almost magical happened.

Naruto heard a simple small drumbeat, like the sound of a single drop of rain on a tin roof, muffled barely audible but...there, and like that the entire bird nation fell silent instantly, it was an eerie almost solemn silence.

Then again the drum rang out, three strikes, four, until he lost count. Then the drum ceased all together. The from the tops of the great rocks, came the shadows, first one, then two, then all of a sudden almost twenty came down, at first Naruto could not tell what they were, they moved like ghosts upon the wind.

Silent like death they descended until they landed on a rock that was closer to Naruto and Gomeg however hr had to strain his neck to look upon the aged faces of those who could only be the elders. "We have been summoned; now tell us...what for?" Said one, his voice just a whisper but with a certain power that ran shivers down Naruto's spine.

* * *

**So this is what I have so far, boring I know, but it's something...yay!**

**By the way these next few chapter were not in my original plans so my time line got screwed up slightly but bear with me please.**

** NSW**


	33. The decision and the past

**Chapter 32**

**Life as a Fox**

**NSW**

* * *

Botis landed before Naruto, he lowered his head so his beak lay in the dust his wings splayed out before him. "Oh great and divine elders, the wisest of the wise, I Botis, leader of the west Peak hunters have summoned thee". The main elder whose feathers were bleached white from age peered down at him with silver eyes.

They looked at Botis as if he were a morsel of food that looked un appetizing. "How dare you summon us? What right do you have? You are not even of proper class or training"! Botis seemed to shrink lower in the ground, which Naruto thought almost impossible.

Then Ipos came forward bowing like Botis "please, grandfather, excuse Botis, but we need to speak with the elders, we have demon kin that bring us news, that we should listen to" The elder bird softened but only slightly he finally for the first time glanced at Naruto and Gomeg.

He spoke "what are your names, Cousin Wolf and...Raccoon?" Gomeg stepped forward "I will say this once, and only that, I am a Badger demon, a badger, not only that a Badger seer" There was a collective gasp from the birds, the elders shushed everyone by running there long aged claws along the rock once.

"you mean to say, you hold the sight and the powers to see into the other worlds?" Gomeg smirked "when you say it that way, it sounds like I am a god, but no, true I can see things others cannot but that is only because I allow myself to see it, I am mostly a healer more than anything."

A bird perked up it was a female about Sokol's size only she had yellow tinged wings "healer? Are you good?" Naruto turned to her "one of the best I know" Naruto said, Gomeg scratched his chin which was something he did when he was embarrassed or bashful.

The female turned and helped a younger adolescent hatchling through, it was a male and he had a stumbling walk, Naruto noted it was because of a broken leg. "Meishka the elders decreed that your son would be left out in the dying fields yesterday, a bird that cannot hunt is a dead bird, it has been our ways-" Gomeg stepped forward.

"Please elders allow me to save this bird then, so he can hunt and support his family and protect you from harm" The elder stared at him beak open, surprised, he had never been talked to like so, it stunned him into silence. Gomeg reached to the bird and with three glowing claws he began to fix the birds leg.

When the bird was healed Gomeg turned, and the bird began to flap about putting his weight on his leg "I can walk! I can walk! I can hunt! I can fight!" Meishka came forward and preened his feathers, so happy. She turned to Gomeg and thanked him "if there is ever anything that you need form me, only ask".

Gomeg waved his hand saying it was no need. Naruto cleared his throat "now then, what we came here for originally". Naruto spoke "great elders please forgive us for trespassing and for creating quite a disturbance, but we have came a long ways and we wish to be heard."

Naruto took a breath the entire bird nation was looking at him; Naruto wasn't used to having this much avid attention. 'I wonder if this is what it's like being Hokage' he thought to himself. Naruto cleared his throat. "Me and Gomeg here, we come from a place called the village hidden in the leaves".

Naruto continued "it is a human village" there was more murmurings as the birds spoke "but it is a village of demons as well" This caused a momentary silence then more noise. The elders scratched their claws several times to get them to be silent.

The main elder spoke "so, you are telling me that you live among humans?" Naruto nodded "I do, and I am proud to count as one of their warriors, and Gomeg here is proud to called one of their healers". The elders peered down at him "so you have traveled all this way to tell us that you live with Humans? Seems a waste of time."

Naruto shook his head "no, I came this way to tell you I live with humans and to extend an invitation to do so as well". The elders stared at him like he had sprouted a third pair of eyes.

Sokol spoke "I have been there elders, Fluffy speaks the truth" Suddenly there was an uproar of chirring and whirring, Naruto figured that was the birds way of laughing. "What?" he asked "you name" Sokol said "It's funny; you see we call young hatchling 'fluffies' before they receive their name."

Naruto sighed "great" he said. The laughter died down, "so Demon wolf Fluffy...you want us the entire Gyrfalcon nation to leave their home and come live with humans, for what? so humans can pluck one of us up and eat us whenever they please?".

Naruto shook his head "no, I am inviting you because I know you are hungry, I know that the eggs that are laid by the beautiful females of this nation either break or never hatch, I know the sorrow that mothers and fathers are feeling when they are unable to feed their young, and they can only sit by and watch them die"

As Naruto spoke laughter died away completely, the bird looked at him with a new found respect, they leaned closer wanting to hear more of him. "I know your pain, I know how you feel, you want to save yourselves, well I offering a way to do so, so either you be prideful and arrogant and say no and if that's the case you can be the elders of nothing, or you can listen to the full thing I am offering".

The main elder was silent he turned and looked to his comrades then he turned back "what say you Wolf demon Fluffy" Naruto smirked "I am not saying the entire nation should come, I am here to offer you...new summer breeding grounds, ones teeming with fat prey as much as you want."

The elders glanced at each other, "surely these. Breeding grounds would not come free of charge and out of the goodness of the human's hearts?" Naruto nodded "you are correct, there are certain requirements." Naruto looked about him.

Naruto spoke "in between you are raising your chicks we would require certain services from you, patrol duty and messenger duty would be most likely" The elders looked at him "they wish for us to work with them? Why?"

Naruto took a deep breath "because the humans wish to increase relations between them and demons, Konoha is one of the first villages to have an open border policy for demons, it is also against the village rules to bring harm to demons".

Naruto looked about "you're entire clan can begin something none of us demons had ever imagined before, a peace, a new beginning between humans and demons, I know we have quarreled in the past, I know that you may have had your grudges and your pains from the humans, but believe me when I say now is the time to change that, like I said we can start something new."

Naruto looked about he stepped forward "I have known Sokol for only a short while, and I have learned much from this noble Gyrfalcon, I have witnessed the pride and un-dying bravery you Gyrfalcon's possess, when I look about in each of your eyes I see strength and power, now it's time for you to show the world that, show the world that the Gyrfalcon demons are still alive and kicking and that no one will ever take the skies form you!"

Naruto yelled out the last portion as he built up momentum, the Gyrfalcons shrieked out and flew about as they agreed with him; he could see the strength and hope return to their eyes. They looked to the elders, the elders were silent then they turned to one another and began to speak in hushed voices in a huddle.

Slowly everything died down as they waited for them. Then the head elder turned to them. "It is known among all demons that Wolves have excellent judge of character, they have the ability to read the hearts of those around him or her, if we were to believe and accept anyone's request, it would be yours"

The elder glanced up "those who wish to travel to these new breeding grounds are free to go, and we will await for your return at the end of the season change, for too long have we saw the decline of our great and noble race, we will instill our trust in this wolf demon, and his companion Badger demon who have earned our trust and respect, so tonight we shall make these two honorary wing brothers".

A great cheer up went from all the birds, the flocked about Naruto and Gomeg, asking questions talking about themselves. Naruto was introduced to so many different birds he couldn't exactly remember what name went with which shade of feathers.

* * *

Naruto and Gomeg were able to relax and bask in the sunlight upon the lowest rock ledge. Botis, Sokol and Ipos joined them, Botis served more as their personal body guard for the day, making sure other Gyrfalcon didn't linger longer then need be.

Naruto sighed, the sun felt great, he could re-call even when he was human how he liked to bask in sunlight, he never knew if it was because of the inner fox inside of him or if he was one of those few humans that did. It was funny though to Naruto, how distant and far away the memory of being a human was, it must pass with time.

Then there was a flurry of feathers as another Gyrfalcon came to join them, Botis and the new comer whirled around in a twister. Naruto could tell it was his mate, he had soon figured out that only mates acted in such...interesting ways.

Botis chirped at the top of his lungs "Styill! Styill" Styill had beautiful green eyes, like young shoots of spring. Her plumage was a ruddy brown and red like the color of damp soft earth. She was the same height of Botis but a slimmer frame.

Yet she had a longer wingspan then him, they danced around each other, perfectly happy with no care in the world. Once again Naruto was hit with something, a longing for such companionship. He had seen how happy Kiba and Hinata were, how everyone was, he was happy, just not like that.

Naruto turned to Gomeg, "did you ever have a mate?" Gomeg nodded then looked away as if being carried away to some farther time. In fact the real world seemed to fall away from him.

* * *

_He did not know her face, at least not her physical one, but he knew what her heart looked like, he knew her scent and he knew her voice, he also knew her kindness, all of them weaved together in his mind's eye and formed her image. Her name was Allyla she was from a forest on the other side of the mountains, she had come originally for medicine for her little siblings, her mother had died and now her siblings were sick._

_Gomeg had taken over his father's duty and had followed her across the mountains to where the siblings were being watched over by a friendly cardinal who was Allyla's best friend. Gomeg healed the children; it was a rough sickness and took some time to recover from it._

_During that time he and she would spend the entire day together, gathering food and medical herbs and berries. Gomeg decided to teach her some stuff about medicine, after that long with such a kind and gentle person...how could he not fall in love? He may have been blind but he was young, and she saw past his blindness, she understood it, and loved him for it._

_Even when the siblings were healed, Gomeg stayed with her, until one day she finally said "let us go back to your home...together". Gomeg was the happiest badger there ever was. _

_So the season came and gone, together they healed and helped all they could. Gomeg thought that this would be how it was for the rest of his days and he was happy for it. Then the next season she became pregnant, and he was even happier._

_Together they modified the borrow making room for the new bundles of joy on the way. Then that day came, the day when humans entered the woods._

_They came to clear the forest, make room for their new village. The animals were content with leaving, they had no choice, and there were other woods and places they could go. Gomeg and Allyla were deep in the woods and didn't have to worry at the moment, but they still packed up and prepared, Gomeg was sad to leave the borrow of his father but he would have to._

_Until one day a foolish child a young deer demon called out to the humans. Taunting them and angering them, of course then the humans were quite how you say traditional stuck in the ways of old, unable to learn and understand thing for themselves._

_The humans soon figured out that every animal was a demon (even though this was false, we Demons live among are animal counterparts at times) The humans then decided to do that which chilled his blood to this day, the burning._

_It began late at night, but by the time it reached Gomeg and Allyla's ears it was too late. They traveled with other panicked demons and animals, towards where the flames were not; little did they know it was a trap. The smoke filled the air around them, the flames and heat licked at their feet, urging them on like whips._

_Gomeg stayed by her side, he could see with his echo vision, and see by using the fear from around him. They finally broke through the last barrier of underbrush in the forest, only to run into a long line of humans, waiting for them hands holding weapons and stained with blood._

_Allyla screamed, Gomeg tried to protect her, but they were upon them like terrible beasts, wild and crazed eyes, leering down upon them. They sweated and grunted like vicious pigs while they worked, taking the lives of innocent creatures all because of their lack of understanding and the drive of fear that ran through them._

_Gomeg felt the life force of his mate wash away from her body, he felt her soul slip away from his and go to a much better and painless place. Gomeg wished that he could have been killed with her, but they thought him dead like her, when in reality a large buck landed on top of him, squishing him, and breaking something inside of him that would make it painful for him to walk and run for the rest of his life._

_Gomeg laid there for hours next to his dead mate, underneath the stinking and bloating body of the deer, he wished he could make the humans pay, he wished so much pain unto them. But something touched him briefly, and he was filled with the understanding and the compassion, he knew what the humans did was wrong, was bad, but humans were not just capable of destroying, they could create and heal just as well._

_He needed to help the humans see the error of their ways, change the way they saw demons, otherwise the cycle would repeat itself. But Gomeg couldn't find the nerve to do so, so he dug himself out from beneath the pile, he dragged himself away from his mate and he forged ahead, burying himself behind his work._

_Watching humans from afar, waiting for the day he would have his chance to change the world, and then one day a long time later, he found it, in the form of a Wolf demon that needed his help with his human friends. _

* * *

Gomeg finished his story, the world and Fluffy was silent, he had tears, "even after that all, you still have managed to see the good in humans". Gomeg nodded "like I said, I was touched with the feeling, I was filled...with the knowing that good can come from them, I just needed to find a way, and now here we are starting it".

Fluffy nodded "I am glad" Gomeg nodded "so am I , and I have a feeling that Allyla would be too" she was so kind and understanding, she would want me to be as well.

* * *

**NSW**

**Hope you enjoyed remember to review if you have any questions, complaints, or comments.**


	34. The naming ceremony

**Chapter 33**

**Life as a Fox**

**NSW**

* * *

After a long day of basking in the sun and wandering about the great canyon the Gyrfalcon's lived in. Naruto then asked "why do you all live together, I thought birds of prey were solitary" Botis nodded "and you would be right" as he circled in easy circles above Naruto lofting in the breeze so care free like a leaf.

"However" he continued "a long time ago, it got to the point where only a few of us remained, so to save our kind we decided to live in a great colony from then on, at first we were only a large flock of about thirty or so, but after a while we found survivors of our kind, they joined us and soon the flock numbered a hundred."

Sokol picked up after this "but, a hundred birds in the air is quite easy to see, so we decided to find a place that was large and safe and would protect us, a place we would call home" Sokol flew up "this is that place, our great grand wings found this place and forged from it a new utopia".

Sokol spoke "though I guess we kind of outgrew it, we have lived here for so long, pray has learned to stay away, so we have to fly further and further each day to find some". Naruto nodded "I kind of figured, but if you guys seasonally move about form place to place, the pray will have time to repopulate and maintain a steady supply."

Sokol chirped as he thought about it "that seems quite logical, why didn't we think of that?" Naruto shrugged. Gomeg limped beside him "how are you feeling old timer?" Naruto asked slyly. Gomeg growled at him "I am not quite old just yet, you over grown mutt".

Naruto playfully nipped at him and raced away knowing Gomeg couldn't catch him. Gomeg could only grumble some more about him under his breath. Sokol screeched and dive bombed at him, suddenly the entire nation seemed to follow him, their numbers blotted out the sun.

Naruto raced suddenly very afraid, to see that many birds with those long sharp claws and curved beaks, screeching at the top of their lungs, one could not think of what to do besides run. They could have easily over taken him and fell upon him, but instead they merely snapped their beaks about his head, their claws grazed his fur but drew no blood.

They herded him to a drop off, Naruto tried to turn to go the other way, but the blocked his path slowly they herded him in like a bunch of dark Shepherd's leading him to his death. Naruto clawed and grappled at the cliff edge, unsure of what to do, the cliff from the corner of his eye dropped to an unseeable bottom.

Naruto didn't think that was a good thing, his heart beat like a race horses' hooves thundering in his chest, his breath came in small rapid pants. Then he went over, the gut wrenching drop, as of his stomach was being ripped out threw his throat, the lack of having anything under his feet.

He howled, he tried to edge towards the canyon wall and claw at it, to try and get a grip with his chakra, but he was falling too fast. Yet he felt time go slow, his heart pounded with fear the adrenaline making everything seem extended longer, he could see his death upon him, yet after a few moments he no longer felt afraid.

The wind coursed about him creating a melody of whistling winds. Almost soothing to the ear, his body relaxed actually it sounded so beautiful, he looked up the way the sunlight glinted of the feathers of those above him, streaming in through their wings, unearthly and radiant, majestic to behold.

Then it his him, he would not die he would live to see this, he finally could understand how a bird feels to fly, what it was like to hold a power few could hold, to push away from the ground and be able to see the earth like a god could only see.

He gritted his teeth, he was wind that was his element, he would survive this, and he knew how. The idea popped into his head, he remembered the old Onoki how he was able to defy gravity. It was bad to try this now, winging it. Naruto could have laughed at the pun.

Naruto breathed in then out, he could create a strong enough rasengan tornado that extended to the ground before him (fast approaching by the way) Naruto breathed in then out, releasing the power from within, spinning the air both ways at the same time extending the rasengan not in a circle but in a straight line, it of course expanded form the starting point, and looked almost like a pyramid when it first began.

But he narrowed his jaw to put more strain on the stream and to narrow it, thus forming the wanted affect a Tornado, small of course instead of sucking stuff in it blew stuff away from it. Naruto could reverse the way the air molecules were moving and create one that sucked in but that would take too much work, plus his kind wanted to slow his decent to the ground.

It was going to hurt, but it wouldn't kill him, he hoped. His body got caught in an updraft, sending him upwards in the air, and greatly slowing his speed down; he almost came to a complete stop before earth's cruel gravity grabbed a hold of him once more.

But before he could continue, he was caught, painfully by a bunch of Gyrfalcon's all of them smiled down upon him. Then as one they beat upwards with their wings, their claws dug into his back and shoulders but he didn't mind at the moment.

Sokol was to his left and Boris to his right, he looked up at them "what was that for?" he asked as they set him on the ground, he then realized he was shaking, Gomeg walked up to him and began to heal his wounds. It gave Naruto an excuse to stay on the ground, he didn't think he could stand at the moment anyway, thankfully Gomeg's hands knew how to calm his nerves as well as heal.

Botis landed before him "amazing! I never saw a wolf fly before!" Naruto looked at him "well of course not! We don't have wings! We can't fly" Sokol chirred "but you did, I mean you fumbled out a bit at the beginning but you got the hang of it".

Naruto growled "never...ever do that again" The entire nations whirred "of course not silly, you just needed to have your first flight before you get your name." Naruto stared at him "what about Gomeg! You didn't force him off a cliff!" Sokol glanced at Botis "he healed one of our own, giving flight back to one of us, that is his first flight in a way".

Naruto swore and cursed a storm in his head. Once Gomeg was finished healing Naruto got to his feet, albeit shakily but he stood, and stayed standing. The elders feel before him gliding effortlessly like all birds did. "We the elders have witnessed your first flight, we have determined that you are one of us, maybe not in body, but in heart and mind, you know of the beauty that happens during flight, the divinity that was given to us, we are happy to share that with you our new wolf brother, from now on your name shall be Velke Veterne kridla, or in your tongue 'Great wind wings'.

Naruto bowed his head "I am honored oh great elders" the main elder chirred "you are quite an interesting Wolf, custom dictates that you may take one of ours to be your mate, but I think it's safe to say that there will be no mate bonding ceremony".

Naruto laughed "I think you are correct elders, although if I were of the Gyrfalcon race I do see a couple pretty feathered females here" The females about him preened, their version of blushing. Naruto laughed the elders turned to Gomeg "we also welcome in our new Badger demon brother, from this day to us you shall be known as Magna Sanitateum unguibus, or 'Great healing Talons'".

Gomeg nodded "like Velke here, I am honored" a cheer went up through the nation as they chanted "Velke!Magan!Velke!Magna!" Naruto laughed and howled, Gomeg threw his head back and did quick high pitched yips like a coyote.

All about him there was a tornado of feathers as he was surrounded with the myriads of feather colors, and light glinting off of dangerous yet majestic claws and talons. Naruto turned to Gomeg, "you know sometimes, I love my life the way it is".

Gomeg nodded knowingly "to witness something truly majestic is a once in a life time opportunity, question is, how far are you willing to go for it?" Naruto grinned "isn't that the purpose of life"? Gomeg and him laughed then howled and yipped while they were accompanied by a chorus of great screeches, for miles about the entire nation was caught up singing the ancient songs of old.

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed, it was kind of cheesy but I still liked it. Remember reveiw I can't get better without some criticism.**

**NSW**


	35. PETITION!

The administrators of are as of June 4th going to be taking down Fics that have lemons or have extreme violence, but there are many wonderful fics that only have one or two lemons in them yet the plot itself is awesome! You can't just take down a 100,000+ word fic just because it has a lemon in a chapter that is only 1000 words long.

This is my protestation against the removal of our beloved lemons. Sure, there are some crass and crude representatives of the fiction world out there, but do they really need to be the cause of the the works of art that grace this site to be demolished in an instant? NO!

SO rise up my fellow fans of fiction, and sign your online handle to this fine petition and together we WILL stop the travesty of this movement!

Now I urge you all to read the petition below, sign it, and repost this to your own fics. Hopefully if we make enough noise everything will return to normal. Thank you.

Greetings to the fine folk that moderate our site.

Myself, along with many, have been writing and posting on your fine site for years now, some of the better examples of up and coming writers out there are now suddenly finding some of the stories we've come to love at risk of being removed without the chance to even rectify our errors.

For some, that means the permanent loss of a story. While I don't have anything that I believe violates your terms of use, there are those out there that are never able to recover a story in its original form, this is something I find to be almost worthy of a legal action, as while we cannot claim ownership of a character, the stories are OURS and simply destroying them is something that is inexcusable.

It's quite easy to simply add an MA rating, additional filters or even a simple requirement for a free membership to read the stories presented here, and would cut down on hateful anonymous reviews and posts at the same time, so I have to question as to why such a thing, in all this time, simply wasn't added.

If you're worried about falsification of a registration then have an appropriate disclaimer and then there can be no dispute, you took your steps and the PARENTS didn't monitor their children, if that is even your concern. If it is more of a personal view or desire then please at least let people know and give them a chance to remove a story that you and yours find offensive, most people on the site are actually rather cordial when it comes to such requests.

While I cannot say for sure if this letter will even reach those that may be willing to listen, of if it's more akin to a wide spectrum purge in preparation for something bigger, please understand that you are going to be looseing a LARGE number of your writers, and thus your income from a lack of readers if there is not some level of action taken to help with this situation.

There is absolutely no point in having an "M" rating if the content is not, in fact, mature. I feel it would be both more fair and more practical to simply make the "M" rated section of the site unavailable to anyone who does not have a profile on . All users should have a date of birth put in during sign up. In this way you can ensure that M-rated fics are inaccessible to anyone who is not willing to verify that they are 18 years old or older. It is ridiculous to limit fanfictions in the way that you are proposing. While, yes, some stories are simply pornographic there are many times that adult situations or violence can be used to make a more effective point. It should not be in your power to make that judgment call. After all, the author of the best selling fiction series "50 Shades of Grey" had her start in erotic "Twilight" fanfiction, which only illustrates my point. For a website whose entire purpose is the proliferation of creativity, your attempts to stifle such works is at best hypocritical and at worst straight up censorship...which should be a dirty word for anyone who loves reading.

For those that may agree with this, please feel free to sign on and send this to the support server, maybe we can get some movement on this.

Also, show support here: : / forum. fanfiction topic/ 111772/ 63683250/ 5/ #63703800

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If you could do what some other authors have done and post this petition as a temporary new chapter on some of your stories to help spread the word? It would help a lot it's how I found out about this.


	36. Surprises around every corner

**life as a Fox**

**NSW**

* * *

****Kakashi was humming quietly to himself as he went through paperwork, different order forms for new shipments of weapons, and filling out forms of new ninja registrations, assigning missions to certain people. It was a hassle but Kakashi found enjoyment in doing such things, he liked being organized and it had it's professionalism, plus being paid to sit around all day had it's perks.

He had filed away a form when all of a sudden he felt the presence as if something was watching him. He put the thought form mind, thinking maybe it was because of the lack of sleep last night. (his and Anko's anniversary) He smiled to himself at the thought. Him and Anko always had soft spots for each other even in the academy, but she went her way and he went his, and they never really got to meet up until later in life.

She was brash and strong minded, but he liked that in a women, she also had this soft side, deep, caring compassionate, something he also admired about her. He will admit at first he was shy, not sure how to go about wooing her, she seemed like the girl that liked the odd and interesting, one of a kind stuff.

But he later found out that she liked the norm, she loved getting flowers and chocolates, going out to eat then seeing a show, old school stuff, stuff he thank-fully knew how to do. It might sound cheesy but she liked it that way, she liked having a gentlemen, because deep inside she was a lady.

Kakashi hummed louder and flipped the next order over, once again the prickly sensation in the back of his neck kept bugging him. Finally the ninja in him made him turn around bracing for the worst.

He jumped nothing braced him for what he was witnessing, scores of birds, lined along the ledge outside his windows, and in the middle of the feathery and beaked mass was a single creme colored wolf with blue eyes grinning ear to ear. More and more birds were landing on the roof tops behind them, basking in the sun, some were flying about chasing down other birds hunting them.

Kakashi walked calmly to the window he opened it "yes" he asked Naruto looked to him "we have new allies" Kakashi glanced to the birds "do we now?" he said looking at them, they were large and reminded him of hawks or falcons, only larger with denser feathers, something about them seemed..otherworldly.

Until one spoke "hello great head elder of the leaf roost" Kakashi glanced down at the one who spoke he was large and warrior like, the speaking didn't surprise him, he was used to Naruto dragging home things that were strange. "ah, yes, well...welcome to my...roost...I am sure you are finding it quite comfy".

The bird clacked "yes it is" the bird turned his head "this place was made for birds, you have grown strange trees that provide excellent resting places." Kakashi glanced down to the electric poles the bird was motioning to. Kakashi nodded "glad you like them...just don't touch both lines at once...the trees have a terrible...zap..to them"

Naruto nodded "I mentioned that to them, hopefully they remember"- _zzzzzzzppppppppp crackle...snap...zzzzzzzzz _ "Barin! what's wrong! are you okay?" some birds in the back ground asked, laughter rose up "woooo weeeee that was fun! it was like a burst of...something! it felt great you should try it!".

Kakashi didn't need to turn his head, neither did Naruto both of them looked dead pan forward as they listened to five more mini explosions as the birds experimented with the electricity, the lights in the office flickered then went dark. Kakashi sighed Naruto grinned then turned "oi! stop that what did I say!" there was a chorus of "sorry's" from five birds laying on the ground, feathers puffed and smoking.

Naruto turned back "situation handled" Kakashi let his head veer to the left hitting the window giving himself the much needed face palm. The bird spoke "may we enter? Velke said that we would have to run through...negotiations". Kakashi nodded, confused at who Velke was, he was expecting just Naruto and a few of the birds, but apparently 'we' meant every bird that came with them.

So Kakashi's office was soon filled with the current breeding population of Gyrfalcons. (as he found out upon introduction) Naruto (who was Velke as he found out) sat on his desk next to him, right on top of the newly finished order forms. Kakashi sighed they sat in his chairs, the sat along the bookshelf's, and inside the bookshelf's, and the floor was now a mass of beaks and beady bird eyes.

"so what exactly is it you had negotiated with them...Velke?" Kakashi asked Naruto grinned "well...they would come here during the summer breeding season, hatch their eggs, raise their young for a bit then return home, and while they are here, they would provide an excellent messenger service".

Kakashi nodded it would be something the village needed, during the attack on the village by the peins the messenger bird hatchery was destroyed, several generations of bird breeding and training gone for history. The messenger nin had to borrow from other villages and go out and capture new birds to raise and breed.

Kakashi nodded "that is...actully a good idea Velke" Naruto glared at him and smacked him with his tail "of course it's a good idea" Kakashi cleared his throat "I would be glad to accept you, however we have technicalities here, we would need a signed contract with the...leader of your...flock".

The birds all turned to each other "the elder's did not come on the journey...they are our leaders...so what now?" Kakashi sighed "well...are they going to be coming in the future?" the birds shook their heads, "no, only us who are breeding will be making this journey each two year"

Kakashi nodded "very well...then you will have to appoint one of you right now as leader". All the birds turned to Naruto "we cannot choose, Velke will, wolves have the ability to see leadership in a being" Naruto glanced to Kakashi, Kakashi had to hold back his snort of laughter.

Naruto cleared his throat "very..well...ummmm eenie...meanie...minie...moe...lets see..." he closed his eyes then his twirled about him and went around in random circles until it stopped "you" he said opening his eyes, "me?" the bird asked, he was older mostly a muddled chocolate brown plumage.

Naruto nodded "yes!...my tail has spoken! the great leader finding ability..is located within the tail! it is you...what is your name?" "Roki" he said "very well...Roki will be your leader for now" All the birds turned to him then bowed to him, Roki looked around happy and surprised at his new higher position.

Kakashi said nothing "very well...let me draw up a contract..you can all go outside... stretch your...wings, enjoy the village" The birds all screeched in happiness and took off, Kakashi had to duck under his desk to survive the incoming wave of sharp claws and beaks flying at him.

Naruto jumped down next to him "leader finding ability...in your TAIL?" Kakashi said to him, Naruto looked down ears drawn back "I had to make something up" Kakashi flicked Naruto's nose roughly "owe! oi! don't be mean!" soon the Gyrfalcons were out, Naruto rose and walked out "so?" Kakashi spoke "give me a day to explain to the council...about our new allies...and their proposition" Naruto nodded "gotcha, I will keep them from doing anything...drastic".

Kakashi nodded "you do that" Naruto left turning back to his office, witch was covered in feathers...and...leavings. He sighed and hung his head in defeat..."I love my job...I love my job...go to your happy place...that's it...your happy place...you can do this...you can do this Kakashi" he said to himself silently then began to laugh he stopped "it's official...I have went crazy...yay!" he exclaimed putting his hands up in the air.

Sakura walked in and looked at the mess and him in his position she spoke calmly "should I be concerned about you?" Kakashi sighed "no, no I'm good, call for a council meeting tomorrow, the village has new allies". Sakura looked at him "where from?" "the sky" Kakashi said picking up a cast off feather.

* * *

Naruto walked into the house "I'm home" he said walking through the door. Hinata happily came up to him hugging and kissing his cheeks for extra measure. "I...missed you to" he said licking her cheek back. she smiled down "it happened" she said smiling wildly "huh?" he said looking confused she glanced down at her stomach.

Naruto looked shocked at her "that's great!" he said nuzzling her and rubbing against her (his version of hugging) "I know! Sakura gave me an ultrasound for fun, in case the pregnancy test was wrong...it was, I was pregnant!" Naruto licked her cheeks "what does Kiba think?" he asked "I haven't told him yet, I was planning on telling him tonight" Naruto nuzzled her one last time "I am happy for you Hinata."

She giggled like a school girl then got up "come on, let's celebrate...let me guess you want ramen?" Naruto nodded "of course" she began to make the ramen. Naruto spoke "so...where is the baby room going to be?" Hinata paused "I don't know I will talk to Kiba" Naruto nodded "I can move out of the room, you can use it, my pillow is more comfy anyway."

Hinata looked at him "are you sure?" Naruto nodded "of course! I don't need all that space, I am a wolf for petes sake, if I want space I will go outside." Hinata leaned down and hugged him "Naruto you are the kindest person I know, I love you Naruto you are the greatest friend I have, you are like a brother I never wanted."

Naruto and her laughed then she made him ramen and they waited until Kiba got home to tell him the news. Kiba came in Hinata started bouncing in her chair, Naruto told her to act like nothing was out of the ordinary, they had already came up with a way to say it. Hinata spoke casually "so Naruto says he will let us have his room" Kiba glanced up "why do we need his room?" he asked sipping a drink.

Hinata got up and gave him his supper then sat down casually "for the baby of course" Kiba paused he gave Hinata a double take. then his face spanned out in a great big smile, he was up and holding Hinata faster then Naruto could follow. The two of them shared a kiss and hugged each other, Naruto could feel their love for each other radiating at it's maximum.

He laughed and slurped more noodles. Kiba spoke "everything is just perfect right now, I never want it to stop". Naruto commented "neither do I".

_Little did they know, that fate had something planned out differently for them, for even though it had given them something great...it would take away something great in return. The y could only hope that when it did happen, they would be prepared to have their courage, their hearts and their bonds tested to the absolute maximum._

* * *

**Well thats what I have, I am sorry I took so long to write, I hope you enjoyed.**

**NSW**


	37. Wolf Reign

**life as a Fox**

**NSW**

* * *

Naruto's team at first was quite average, they completed mission's with minor errors that were fixed and were never done again. But soon his team were becoming more and more successful. He had to find tougher missions just to challenge his students, their progress oddly had increased greatly in such a small amount of time.

Take for instance Baru, he could bench press 350, fight ten guys at once and not break a sweat. His power was like a bull's, fierce strong and always getting stronger. It was bred into him by his father and forefathers who had worked the mines for generations, making the next generation stronger then the previous because each generation started in the mines at a younger and younger age until there was boys only the age of six or seven working alongside their father.

However Baru would not be known for a scholar, he would be known for his kind and gentle heart, were as his body was like a bull, his heart was like Panda he preferred to just sit around all day (between training) and either watch the clouds, or even at time go pick flowers. (He helped Ino sometimes with her shop, going out and picking the kind she needed for her arrangements)

Chikao now took medicine for his dyslexia which helped him greatly, and Naruto had helped him with concentrating so that he could be able to read without his medication (he still stumbled but was getting better). In fact Chikao was very bright, he could figure out how to do jutsu's quite easily and even created some of his own techniques.

Him and Naruto were one in the same, they had this mind that worked differently from others, where in some area they were complete idiots and at other times, they did things that defied previous rules, they were always outside the box. It almost seemed to prove that at times ingeniousness and madness could sometimes be the same thing.

Naruto would think to himself at time, how Chikao reminded him of a younger less hairy him. They weren't exactly alike but similar they had different problems and obstacles to over come in their own time, so Naruto would be there to guide him but not solve his problems for him, part of growing up was having to fend for yourself.

Little Gin had grown as well, between taking a few classes as a medic nin and training in advanced genjutsu classes with people twice her age and more, her plate was full. But she still always was up bright and early and smiling through the day, Naruto could not name a day when she was not smiling, she had this innocent sweet grace to her, that made everyone adore her almost instantly.

Especially Naruto who allowed her to do almost anything to him, she could put hats and sunglasses on him, and give him T-shirts to wear, and he would. What she liked most was laying her head on his shoulders when he was lying down and lean agianst him while she did her medic work or studied a form of Genjutsu.

Naruto was inspired, amazed and proud of his students they seemed to be different from when they first came, unable to throw a kunai right, and no idea how much potential they had. Everyone was impressed with Naruto and praised him greatly for his success, their progress was astounding to other sensei's who were still trying to teach their kids to get along.

That was a thing Naruto didn't have to worry about, the three of them had been together for a long time, they were a family. Their bond was forged when they were young, scared and alone. When everyone had turned away from them, they turned towards each other and created something for themselves. It was always them against the world, that was the train of thought that had been embedded into their heads a thought that would stay with them forever.

However thanks to Naruto he had managed to save them from thinking that the world was really all dark, that even in the darkest of situation's their was a light, it didn't have to be big and bright, you didn't have to be able to see it form a far way off, you just had to know it was there, believe in it, and it would guide you wherever you may go.

Naruto knew it would be hard for them to trust people right away, which is probably why they accepted him more easily then the others, humans had been unkind to them, humans had abandoned them and left them to die when all they wanted was someone to love them. It was the pain all orphans in a war torn land felt.

They trusted Naruto because he wasn't the one who abandoned them, he was the one who found them, he wasn't the one who pushed them away he was the one who pulled them closer. Naruto accepted them first, Naruto trusted the first, and to an orphan that was the greatest feeling in the world.

So yes in a way he might have unintentionally used his knowledge and experience of being an orphan to manipulate them, but he did it to help them, to heal them, to teach them, which is what all great teachers are supposed to do. Luckily they did not feel that they were being controlled by him, they seemed to prefer to have his leadership and guidance.

Naruto seemed to understand one must have someone to look up to, to strive to be, and if they wanted to be him, who was he to deny them? So Naruto trained them and taught them, he got them into activities and missions that provided a lot of social interaction, they needed to learn to trust humans again, that was his inner goal for them.

But until that day he would just have to live with three 'puppies' yapping at his heels curious about the world around them, but afraid of getting out of sight of him. Naruto thought thought it was ironic that even though they were afraid of the world around it (not literally the world they were just afraid of having what happened to them happen agian) they were willing to follow Naruto anywhere.

Baru for instance, was afraid of bugs yet he followed Naruto through the forest of death to the control tower to help with repairs. Gin had a fear of drowning yet she was willing to train with Naruto on perfecting her walking across water ability. Chikao was always afraid of the dark, when it was time to make camp he was the closest to the fire and huddled in a little ball, so Naruto would sleep next to him every night. It took a while and a lot of bad back aches but soon Chikao was relaxed with the night, as long as Naruto was nearby.

But then changes began to happen, small at first but steadily growing. Not all of them bad either, the first one was just a happenstance. Naruto was leading his team through the trees, when he wanted them to speed up, he was about to turn and tell them this when they did it before he spoke.

It was strange but he pulled it from mind thinking he was just imagining things, but then it happened again, when he wanted to turn left suddenly (forgot which way he was going) they did it before he even turn his body. Naruto expiramented with it, and came to the conclusion, that they could well...read each other, they could speak (in a way) to each other using body language, a simple twitch of the ear or hand, or turn of the tail or head.

That was something only teams who had been together for years could manage, yet here they were two months of being a team and already they were doing it, maybe it was because there was complete trust and faith between them all from the start. Who knows, but Naruto did not question it, he was both pleased and frightened by it.

Then there was the time they were running down a theif, Naruto took point and the others fanned out behind him, after a while they had caught up and surrounded him. Naruto as was his nature then began to do that wolf circle pace thing that his kind did. Slowly inching closer and cutting off the chance to escape, moving without ever taking his eyes from the target, adding an air of mystery and deadliness to him.

Naruto happened to notice in his peripheral vision, that his students were doing the same. They glided and moved in and about, never getting in each others way, while still moving closer, he could see a look in their eyes, almost matching his, primal and animal but still retaining their humanness, that knowing that they have captured their pray and that he wasn't getting away.

That feeling of being a god deciding the fate of another. Naruto quickly apprehended the man and they took him in, he wanted to ask about what had happened but decided there was no harm in it and ignored it.

* * *

Then on a tougher mission, he didn't know why but his students had began to act...like wolves. It mostly while they were fighting, instead of yelling at who ever they were fighting or grunting...they growled. When they were angry they snapped...and when they were victorious they howled.

In some occasions Naruto found it harder and harder to keep from howling along with them, he had noticed a change in himself as well, a feeling of oneness with them, when they were together the world seemed to pale in comparison, it was as if the team had became the world to him.

Even if it was something simple as running as they returned home from a mission, he felt a thrill throughout all of them, they not only enjoyed each others company, it was as if they needed each other company, as if it hurt them to be apart. They slowly had began to sleep all in one pile of blankets and sleeping bag in one tent or beneath the starts, the latter they chose more and more frequently, if it rained instead of a tent they would search for a cave or a build a small lean to instead of just bringing along a tent.

They stopped bring ninja ration and began to hunt instead, there was nothing like rabbit over the fire on a chilly night. On full moons they would just lay in their pile and look up at the moon, for some reason they could never sleep when it was a full one. Finally one night Chikao spoke breaking the silence of the night.

"I think I have came up with a name" Naruto looked down at him "a name for what?" "our team" Naruto smirked "we are team 27" Chikao shook his head "no, that's not us, I think our team should be called 'the wolf pack of Konoha' Naruto smirked "seems a bit long don't you think?" Chikao shook his head "doesn't matter a team name should describe the team, and that is who we are".

Naruto laughed "very well then, Baru...Gin? what do you think of the new name?" Gin and Baru both eagerly accepted it, and from then on they called themselves that. In fact when they had returned home from the mission and reporting in (they always have to say team name) Chikao stepped forward before Naruto could say anything and said "Wolf pack of Konoha reporting in".

The man behind the desk happened to look up "Iruka? when did you start working here again?" Naruto asked Iruka grinned "oh hello Na-Fluffy...I started a few weeks ago on night shift, I finally went to day shift on weekends" Naruto grinned "that's good" Iruka looked at Chikao "so..Wolfpack of Konoha?" Naruto sighed "Chikao named us".

Iruka glanced at him, Naruto smiled "you know how students are" Iruka grinned back "yes...yes I do, alrighty then mission scroll?" Naruto picked it up in his mouth and walked over, he leaned against the table with his front paws as he dropped it into the basket, full of saliva. Naruto put his ears back "sorry...it's hot out".

Iruka nodded "I see" as he blanched at the saliva. Naruto exited his team behind him. "wait sensei!" Gin said Naruto turned back to them "what?" Gin ran up to him and held out a book it was about wolves "I was reading this book, and it says that when wolves part they will howl together one least time".

Naruto looked at her quizzical, "that's only if they are going away for a long while...I am going to see you tomorrow" Gin pouted "but tomorrow is a long while away...please?" Naruto sighed how could he say no to her? she was to cute. "very well" he cleared his throat "awhoooo" he said then nodded "there is your howl".

Gin pouted, "that's not a howl" Baru nodded "yeah Sensei, that failed" Naruto glared at him "excuse me, I am the one who is a wolf, you are human, you think you could do better?" Baru grinned. "actually Sensei, yes I can" then he put his head back and howled, Naruto was surprised it was quite loud.

Gin and Chikao laughed and joined in, after that Naruto couldn't help but join in as well, when the echos of their howls had descended the village was then filled with laughter. Gin leaned down and hugged Naruto "see you tomorrow Sensei" Naruto nodded to her then to the boys, they waved and ran off together, laughing whooping and hollering down the street.

Naruto turned to see a few village women in the street, "afternoon" he said and walked past he glanced back at them when he had reached the end of the block, they were in a huddle whispering and looking at him and glancing down to where his students had gone. "oh great" he said then continued home to greet Hinata.

* * *

"oh hey Naruto" Hinata said digging through the fridge, she was grabbing a Ketchup bottle, that was her craving ketchup. Naruto laughed to himself she looked so strange taking a large bottle and putting it in a bowl and licking it off of her fingers, on occasion she would make tater tots or french fries with it so it wasn't to strange but sometime she would place gold fish snacks in, which was odd but hey she was pregnant, pregnant people get to do whatever the fuck they want.

Naruto nodded to her, "so how was your mission?" Naruto shrugged "good, we have renamed ourselves" Hinata smiled at him "oh really?" she said closing the fridge and grabbing the gold fish snacks. Naruto shivered as she stood there dumping them in, 'that looks terrible' he said to himself.

"yes Chikao named us 'the wolf pack of Konoha'" Hinata smiled "he is such a cute kid sometimes" Hinata commented. Naruto nodded "yes although I am beginning to think I am rubbing off on them a little to much" He said sitting down in a chair "how so?" she asked "they are reading books about wolves and today they said that every-time we are done with a mission, they want to howl when we leave for home".

Hinata glanced at him "why?" Naruto shrugged "apparently wolves do that, I don't know I have to start reading about them, otherwise soon my kids will know more about wolves then me...and I am one". Hinata chuckled "well keep in mind you are a Wolf Demon" she said, Naruto grinned and smiled "you are right, anyway I am going to go take a nap, right now I need one".

He went to his pillow and curled up and slept the day away with not a care in the world.

* * *

The next day he was up bright and early, he grabbed himself something to eat by heading through the market place when people were setting up shop, he had regulars who would give him something, the baker always had a scone waiting for him, the butcher had a small tid bit of sausage or bacon so he usually got a good breakfast.

He heard a screech in the air, Sokol came down and landed on his shoulders while he walked, he was used to this by now, "morning Sokol, how are the eggs?" Sokol chirped happily "they are doing splendid, they will hatch any day now, and soon I will have three beautiful hatchlings with my mate, you will come to the falls soon yes?"

Naruto nodded instead of staying inside the village like originally planned, the Gyrfalcons had discovered the Valley of the End, and decided that it was the perfect place, wildlife lived all around, it was secluded and had many places for nests to be built, they just had to promise to cause no harm to the figures that were set on either side of the waterfall.

Naruto continued to the tower to receive his mission "you have anything today?" Sokol nodded "yes, I have to deliver a message to the Suna red feathered flock leader" Naruto sighed "Kazekage, he's the Kazekage, and his name is Gaara" Sokol chirped "right him, I must deliver a message to him then I am done".

Naruto grinned "that is good, but I will visit you shortly okay then?" With one last sweep Sokol was off. Naruto stared after him and sighed happily to himself, he walked to the tower to visit Kakashi. "yo" he said stepping through the open window. "why can't you use the door like normal people?" Kakashi said hanging his outer robe on the hanger, it was a warm day and un needed at the moment.

Naruto stuck his tongue out, "I'm not a normal person plus, you always used windows more then door" Kakashi sighed "true, I did, but then I matured...plus Anko yelled at me because I knocked over her favorite vase once and broke it". Naruto grinned "well then, I guess that will train any man".

Kakashi nodded and sat down roughly in his chair sighing as he sunk into the red leather. "so what is this I hear about you teaching your students to be wild animals?" he said casually as he searched around his drawers looking for his ink well and favorite brush. Naruto groaned "for the hundredth time, it was _their _idea."

Kakashi glanced at him with his eye, studying him with a measuring glance "oh really? how peculiar" Naruto huffed "yeah, those kids have me wrapped around their fingers...I just can't say no to them, they...they are so darn cute!" he exclaimed. Kakashi laughed "well I guess some sensei's get all the luck, me I ended up with an obnoxious color blind idiot, a scatter brained fan girl, and well...a self centered arrogant brat".

Naruto was silent, "how was I color blind?" Kakashi stared at him "you wore a bright orange and blue jump suit...how is that not color blind"? Naruto stuck his tongue out, "oi! they are my favorite colors, plus, jump suits are cool, I mean Gai wears them and Lee wears them..." Naruto paused for a moment, as he thought about what he just said.

The office was silent then Naruto burst out "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME I WAS DRESSING LIKE A GIANT BUFFOON!" Kakashi smirked "what? you acted the part, I thought it better if you looked the part as well" Naruto leaped at Kakashi, soon Naruto was chasing Kakashi around the office scattering papers and knocking things over.

Kakashi laughed and Naruto growled and snapped "get back here! I will end your life!" Naruto exclaimed Kakashi only laughed harder, soon they were in a pile on the floor wrestling with each other. One of the office aides came in looking at some paper work "Hokage sir, I need you to look over these...forms" she said trailing off as she glanced at Kakashi who was in the middle of giving Naruto a noggie of his life.

Kakashi paused "ahhhhh...yes, well set it on my desk, I will get to that soon enough" She walked past them then set it on an open place on the messed up desk then walked back being careful to not step on any papers. She closed the door silently. Kakashi and Naruto glanced at each other. "well...I suppose I must be going" Naruto said getting away from Kakashi's hold.

Kakashi cleared his throat, "you are correct, we must go to our jobs, like mature professional adults". They glanced at each other and bust out laughing.

* * *

**well I will be on vocation for a few days, so don't expect a new chapter anytime soon, I am sorry for the wait, you know how summer vocation is like.**

**Thank-you for reading and please Review, I am always open to new ideas and positive input.**

**NSW**


	38. Falling into place

**life as a Fox**

**NSW**

**Okay so you know how writers write random things at the end of the story or the beginning? please read it and don't skim over it I feel like some of you miss the message, (even though sometimes I don't really have one) but anyway's I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

Silently they crept forward, the fallen leaves crackling slightly underneath their feet. Releasing the faint odor of decay. Hushidly they moved along, their young bodies at the ready, stalking their unknowing prey. A flicker went out from their leader, a slight tremor of his tail, telling them to circle in sharper, and to be extra cautious.

The changes in them were un-earthy even they admitted, nothing physical of course, but mostly, psychological, their thinking, they way they acted. It wasn't right, not human, but they knew this, and didn't care. What was so great about being human? Human's where the ones who abandoned them, and pushed them away, enslaved them to work out their lives underground and in the dark, Humans never cared about them before, why should they care if they were losing their humanity?.

Like their sensei their mouth hung open slightly drawing in air, in rapid silent gasps, scenting and filtering it with their limited ability, nothing like a true wolfs, but they still attempted and would keep on doing the same. Baru crouched forward, ready to spring into action, his fighting prowess of hand to hand fighting was vicious and brutal, he had the advantage his sensei did not, whereas Fluffy-sensei had to use his fangs for fighting, Baru could use his hands and feet, he could fight humans more easily and not worry about bringing his head in so close where it could get hurt.

Chikao waited just in the corner of his eyesight on his left side, he was fast and could quickly be there for Baru to back him up, Baru was always the one that led them on, making them surround him, while Chikao came in, while their backs were turned he preferred the deadly assassination type fighting, quick,dirty, and unseen, until too late.

Gin mostly served as relief, and a distraction, staying outside of the battle to survey it and make sure it wasn't a trap and so that no one escaped. She also served as the one who would bring in horrifying and bizarre living nightmares, trapping the enemy with her dangerous and unstable ideas that had came to her head. It was unnerving that such a sweet young girl could conjure up things that made grown men shudder and scream, that was her way.

At the head of this dangerous trio was a creature that brings both hope and fear, a creature that could instill the terrors of the night and bring them to light in the day. He was known far and wide, as many names, but the one that stuck with him the greatest was, 'The White Demon' for he was that ways in many, White because he conveyed the appearance of purity and intelligence, and true he was that (as long as you were on the good side of those fangs) but then underneath he had that inner creature, that beast of battle, that primal instinctive nature of the Wolf.

Always wary of the world, always willing to fight or to run so that he could fight another day, no one had ever bested him yet, and few wanted to, there was no getting to him, he had earned much respect and much hatred but few were strong enough or willing to act upon it.

Their sensei waited patiently next to Gin, he would come in neither a second too early or a second to late, but exactly when he had planned to, right now he was looking. Looking for possible weaknesses that he could fix, looking for strengths to strengthen further, he was doing what all teachers do, seeing if he had more to teach, seeing if they were worthy enough, or ready to learn more.

He had taught them much, and they have came far, true it wasn't as expected, no one could prepare for what had happened to them, the link they shared. This ability to sense the emotions of another, more like a shadow, a hint of an emotion but a feeling non the less. The ability to know when one is needed, when one is summoned or when one needs to be dismissed. (Something proven to be a great help in time for preparing for missions)

Their senses, had been heightened to a point, and for each one it was different, Gin could pin point and look upon things closer then any normal human could. Chikao, he could hear a pin drop three blocks away, and Baru...he could smell and decipher out what that smell was. (He liked to show off by naming out all the ingredients in a food that he was served)

This was a peculiar and unprecedented turn of events, causing much muttering and stirring within the village and still to this day does, but most have grown to accept it, or deemed it unimportant since this change only seems to happen to these three and to no one else. Baru leaped in, as usual a small band of thieves, making a last hit before winter comes in over the mountains and puts them out for the season.

Like the seasons of the year, there was a season to crime and to missions, in early spring it was always missions on fixing up damages and repairing what winter did, or escorting builders and repairmen to places to do that job. Then there was a pause in missions, then the first bands of thieves would break out once again, hitting the merchants and travelers who were moving out in the new weather, after that it was a long and wearisome summer of fighting the heat and these pesky thieves that sprouted like weeds, once you got rid of one another would pop up.

By the time fall came around the heaviest offenders or the ones who were stupid enough to get caught were captured, and left behind the seasoned and more smarter of thieves, the ones that knew what they were doing and how to do it right. These ones took longer to track and catch, which wasted precious time before winter laid in.

But Naruto nodded contently, Baru and Chikao were holding their own, he flicked his eyes to Gin who was doing her duties as well, he did happen to note, that Baru would need to exercise more control in fighting, in several instances he almost seperated completely from Chikao, Naruto knew that Baru didn't meant to and that he had a good head on his shoulders, but he would need to learn not to be enticed by enemies into following them, something they wanted to do, the old 'divide and concur' trick at its basic use.

But other then a few errors in Chikao's use of excessive chakra, and Gin sometimes concentrating to much at one area instead of the whole they were good, he had a great feeling and was proud to be their mentor.

While walking home with them he couldn't help but feel like everything was falling into place, that he was fianlly having some semblance of balance and happiness in his life, Hinata and Kiba were only a few months away from having their baby (they opted for not knowing the gender until it was born, a nice little surprise) and he himself had a little family of his own, albeit mostly adopted but he was still a father to these kids nonetheless, which made him happy.

* * *

"What?" Naruto exclaimed Mammoth spoke "you heard me Fluffy, I want to know what you think" Naruto didn't know what to think "my team? all three of them? Anbu? are you serious! they aren't even of age!" Mammoth leveled with him "Fluffy, there is no age limit to the Anbu, sure we prefer those who are 18 and above, but there are exceptions, and those three are".

"why? because I taught them?" Mammoth sighed and rubbed his temples "mostly yes, Kakashi spoke to me" Naruto paused his ears turned, he wanted to hear this "Kakashi said that people have became uncomfortable with their.. progress, they have claimed your demon powers have witched them, they don't want to have missions done by them".

Anger tore through Naruto '_how dare they! these kids have worked so hard! and now the village doesn't want them? I will rip the throat of this person who says this_!' Mammoth held up a hand as if he knew what Naruto was thinking and wanted him to calm. "Fluffy hear me out, I want them to fulffil their dreams as well, they have talents as Ninja, very skilled ninja at that, they wouldn't be full fledged Anbu, not even Anbu trainee's, more like Apprentices, they learn from you and in two three years depending on how much they know, they can apply to be trainee's".

Naruto thought about it "you would still go on missions, Kakashi will pull them from the missions board and give them to me for you to do, you would be doing the exact same work as before, instead you will just be doing it for the Anbu core and not the village of Konoha" Naruto sighed "I don't know, it sounds reasonable...let me talk to them" Mammoth nodded "of course, you have until tomorrow though" Mammoth warned "to give me your answer".

Naruto nodded and left for home, his mind in a muddled mess, he didn't know what to think, how to even explain or ask this of his pack. He wandered around for a bit before he felt the familiar presence "whats wrong Fluffy-sensei?" Naruto smirked and turned "oh, I just have some thoughts troubling me" he said turning to his three students "like what?".

Naruto spoke "what would you say, if I asked you if you would like to serve the Anbu core instead of the village?" There was a silence the three of them looked at each other "why would you ask that?" Gin said "because someone has asked it of me, the village had grown, wary of us, and won't permit us to do missions, however the Hokage and the Anbu general, are...friends of mine, and are willing to help us out, we would do the same missions, only under the name of the Anbu"

They were silent as they thought about it, he could see the wheels turning in their heads then Baru spoke after several minutes, "I don't care who we serve, the Village, the Anbu, it doesn't matter to me, as long as you are my sensei and are leading us through the mission" Naruto looked to Gin and Chikao "well, what say you?" Chikao stood and nodded "I am with Baru, as long as we are together, I don't care" Gin stood up with him "same here".

Naruto studied the three of them, he smirked and shook his head "how can I say no, when you look to me with those eyes" then he looked to all three of them, "the Anbu is a tough place, it's the best of the best kids, they will push you and test you to your limits and push you past them, they will throw you into things that they know will tear you apart, just to see if you can rise to the challenge."

All three of them listened to him sternly "if you join this now, you will be apprentice Anbu, and in two years if you show the talent, you will be accepted into the Anbu core as trainee's, where you will undergo the trainee regimen, and then..just maybe, you will finally be able to be equals with me, and be able to be lone wolfs yourself for a while".

he said giving them a small sad smile. Chikao spoke "wrong, we will never be lone wolfs, we will always be members of this pack, packs stay together, and even if members may leave or die, they still have a place in the pack, their spirit will run on with us" Naruto for a moment thought he was going to cry, but he managed to get a hold of himself "very well, you have decided, then meet me at my place bright and early".

* * *

Naruto stood waiting in his Anbu gear (which they had finally created a design, that he could put on and take off by himself) the three of the appeared without a word, he made a quick nod to them, and they continued towards the Anbu head quarters. It was a secret place that few new in the village, it required use of the secret path ways and tunnels that had been built underneath he village so long ago that only few knew they were there anymore.

Once there, Naruto led them into the building, this early in the morning, few were there, so it was mostly an empty and silent journey up to Mammoths office. Mouse gave Naruto a quick nod then they entered. Mammoth was sipping his usual coffee, and eating a blueberry bagel, something he enjoyed every morning. Naruto stepped forward "they have decided to take your offer" Naruto said.

Mammoth nodded to them "I see that, very well you three, come I have your uniforms ready" Baru spoke "wait, you knew we would say yes?" Mammoth swiveled his head to him "of course, you three were trapped, and I offered a rope, you would be idiots for not accepting, and since Fluffy is your sensei, I know you are not idiots".

Baru was quiet after that. They dressed in a light gray clothing, same make of the Anbu dress, only theirs was many shades lighter. Naruto studied them, it was almost comical the way, Gin's was to large for her, Baru's was tight across his shoulders and chest, "hnmmm" Mammoth said, "we will have to modify both of your slightly, come I will measure you and send them to the uniform maker".

* * *

"so this is our first mission...you ready?" he asked turning to the three of them, who know had uniforms that fit them all comfortably. They nodded "do we get masks?" Chikao asked "no, masks are given to trainees, and you don't get your official mask, until the naming ceremony". "oh" they all said simply, then followed him out.

* * *

The women cried out, her forhead beaded with sweat form the effort, there was much pain and blood, but she was storng and she could so this, she could survive, all around her were people with sharp implements, waiting and watching, not caring about her pain, but goading it on. Finally with one last heave she brought forth into the world, covered in blood and crying like a struck animal, a baby boy, she lay there exhausted, panting.

Next to her hand cuffed to the bed sat her husband, "good job Momoko, you did wonderful" She smiled which took effort, "I brought forth an heir, are you pleased husband?" she said, tired "very, now rest and relax, I will see to our son". Momoko looked up into his obsidian eyes, Uchiha Sasuke wasn't as bad as everyone thought, he seemed damaged when she first met him, like a lost boy who was turned down the wrong path, but enough love, and understanding, she was able to steer him more towards a better one.

He was far from perfect, but no one was perfect, but he was learning, something about the thought of receiving so many chances told him, that maybe there was something worthwhile in his life that he was missing, that he wasn't able to see. So he was taking it one day at a time, trying to piece it together and find what he was looking for, trying to right the wrongs of a lifetime, even if it took the rest of his life he had left.

They gave the wriggling bundle of joy to them, they looked down upon him beaming, she was happy Sasuke was smiling, something he only did around them, her and her 'sisters' (even though they weren't related) He had learned to relax, and let down some of that arrogance and guarding nature. "He has your nose" Sasuke commented "yes, but more impotently he has your eyes" Sasuke looked away sadly, "no...he has my brothers eyes" she sighed and brought a hand to his face he looked softly upon her "then let us name him Itachi, and give Uchiha Itachi a second chance?"

Sasuke then began to cry sweet, fat rolling tears, falling down softly across the smooth marble like skin of his. She smiled at him and he leaned down and kissed her gently, then his new born son, Uchiha Itachi, a gentle but firm voice said "you have only one hour before you will be escorted back" Sasuke nodded and waved them off, idiots, like he would run away from his son.

He spoke to his son "it's okay, daddy is here, he always will be, I am never going to leave you,...Itachi" then he leaned his head and gently set it against the babes he brought his arm around to hug both Momoko and Itachi holding them like that until they had to force him to leave.

* * *

**Okay, so I added in that last part, feeling like I seemed to totally forget about Sasuke, now I know there are a lot of Sasuke hater's out there, and I actully was one when I started this fanfic (hard to believe right?), but then I got to thinking and looking at his perspective of things, I kind of understand his pain, and although some parts I frown upon, I say 'to each his own'.**

**Anyway, I wanted to show my readers that Sasuke has been changing(for reals this time) and that yeah it's slow, and yeah it's going to be long, but everyone can do it, they just need support, so that was my input, and plus I just wanted to write a cute little fluff scene and not base the story around, Naruto, Hinata and Kiba,and the OC's I am constantly bringing into this story.**

**So I hope you enjoyed and I hope you REVIEW and if not REVIEW please, please, do not hesitate to PM me, I really want to hear your ideas and input, and any questions or really anything that you think could contribute to the story or the characters, plus I would like to know more about my readers and what is it about this story that is so well... appealing, seeing as it takes a whole different path from the Manga/Anime :P.**

**Well thats all for now, hope to hear from y'all soon, byes.**

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	39. Falling Snow

**life as a Fox**

**NSW**

* * *

Naruto led his team on their seventh 'Anbu' mission, when he smelled it, that bitter yet intoxicating aroma, the smell of death and life, the dark smell of blood, filling his nostrils. Baru smelled it as well, "Sen-" he was about to say, Naruto shushed him "quiet, it is fresh!" he whispered harshly, Naruto followed the scent, it got stronger and stronger.

Till he came upon them, bodies four of them, he recognized them, they were all Anbu, slaughtered. Not simply killed, they were torn in pieces, their bodies barely recognizable. Naruto had seen a few of them, he knew there names but that was about it but still he felt saddened, the Anbu was like family, this would be a terrible loss to everyone.

Lemur, poor poor Lemur, her head was attached to her body by a flap of skin, the rest looked like it had been sliced clean through, although the wound was jagged, so it wasn't a knife, it looked as though something sharp wrapped around her neck...and tore through it, like a chain, or a whip, but what kind of chain or whip could do that?

Naruto turned to his students all of them stared wide eyed at him, he heard Gin retching in the trees, they were young, they were not meant to see horrors such as this. Even Naruto felt revulsion from them, what person could do this? Rip other humans apart and leave them lying in their own blood? Then Naruto heard a cough, a weak ragged moan, he followed it there was a trail of blood leading away, and deep in the foliage of a large tree, he found a man lying, bleeding form several wounds, he was weak and possibly dying, but still alive.

Naruto spoke "stay with me brother, we will get you to safety" The man moaned "Baru" he said simply. Baru came over and began to pick the man up "wait" Gin said "what do you mean wait! look at the man!" Gin glared at Baru "I can fix some of him" she then knelt down, and began to heal a few of the wounds, Naruto admired her, then moved in and began to help as well, he wasn't the best healer, but he knew how to do some.

Naruto turned to Baru "bandages please" he said simply, Baru reached into his travel pack and grabbed his, Chikao also handed him some, together Gin and Naruto patched the man up enough, so that he could survive till they got to Anbu head quarters, the man had not spoke yet besides a simple moan or grunt. "lets go Baru" Naruto said, Baru nodded and lift the man gently then they ran as fast as they could go back to Anbu head quarters.

* * *

Gomeg tutted over the man, "I have not seen wounds like these, this will be quite different" Naruto nodded "it is as if, something ripped them apart, something...slim and flexible but also jagged, like claws" Gomeg nodded "right, I would say a whip but whips have clean perfect cuts, no jaggedness, and they slice they don't rip and shred."

Naruto sighed "I can't even begin to describe the other bodies" Gomeg nodded "you of course reported to Mammoth?" Naruto nodded "I sent the team up to do so" Gomeg nodded "good" then at that moment Mammoth broke through the double doors, they slammed when they hit the walls a metallic ring filling the room, Naruto and the man flinched.

Mammoth strode over to them, "what news?" Gomeg turned to him "well he's not going to die, but he's not going to be walking either anytime soon" Mammoth sighed "Raven, one of my smartest" he said, "I gave your students the day off, If that is alright?" Naruto nodded "I was going to do just the same, I suppose I should go see how they are doing".

* * *

"Here you go" Hinata said setting down tea for all of them, Naruto lapped his up slowly, he didn't care much for tea, it tasted like drinking bark. He sighed and looked away, "you liking the room?" he asked Hinata, he had long forsook his room and moved out into the living room on his large pillow. "We love it thank-you again Naruto" Naruto nodded.

Baru sipped his tea, "I remember the stuff they gave us at the mines, so we could sleep, it made you forget all your pain and everything, it was amazing, but it burned like fire when you drank it" Naruto looked up "what did it look like?" Baru shrugged "it was sometimes clear, or brown colored, it changed all the time, but every single one always burned or stung when you drank it".

Naruto and Hinata glanced at each other "did they ever tell you what it was?" Hinata asked "no not really, we never asked, we just did as we were told, although I am glad we got it, sometime you didn't want to know what happened in the dark down in those mines". Hinata sipped her tea, quickly glancing away.

Naruto shook his head "well then, are you guys going to be okay? I mean you can take awhile longer before you can go back, Mammoth does not blame you, that was quite, a sight today...no one should have to witness sit, especially you guys". Baru spoke "it's fine, I mean, it's bad but, I am good, I have accepted that people die, and sometimes they are killed violently, like when a shaft collapses, they had to use us smaller boys to clear out the rubble to find the bodies so I am somewhat used to it, but there is nothing that can be helped, the only thing we can do is make sure it doesn't happen again".

Hinata got up and hugged Baru, she felt so sad of what a life this young man must have led. Chikao spoke "Baru is right, we need to make sure that no one else gets killed in such a way, we have to stop whatever and whoever this is, and but an end to it". Naruto nodded "good...what about you Gin, I know you couldn't stomach it, but are you okay now?"

Gin nodded "I think it was mostly the realization, you know, that someone could do something like that, I mean, I know we have killed, but nothing like that, it looked terrible, and painful, I want to stop someone form experiencing that pain, it is the medic nin in me that has told me this". Naruto nodded "that is good, that you three have came up with this resolve, but do not be disappointed if your bodies betray you, it is hard for you to get used to this kind of thing, hard to cope and live with yourselves after seeing what happened, makes you question your sanity, and yourself, giving doubts...and what did I say about having doubts"?

He asked them Baru spoke "they open the door to failure, if you don't have confidence in yourself, how can you possibly achieve anything you set out for" he said answering him "exactly" Naruto said nodding to them. "now you three go home, try to get sleep, I will call you when I have news for you". They all nodded thanked Hinata for the tea then left "Hinata I am sorry but right now I am going to need something that burns when I drink it".

Hinata nodded "well be safe and don't do anything stupid" Naruto smirked as he headed for the door, he turned to her "Hinata, I am going out to get drunk, how more of a fool could I be?" Hinata gave a soft sigh as she rubbed her belly. She then began to clear the table.

* * *

Naruto staggered home, it was around midnight, maybe one, who knows really, he stopped caring after the fifteenth drink. Many Anbu members had met at a bar near the head quarters, all of them of course were trying to drink away their pain, especially the team that was sent to gather their bodies, Lemur's boyfriend, Terrier was in pieces, he sobbed and cried for her.

Everyone felt his pain, the Anbu had told them that they should be emotionless, not feeling, and at times they were but not when it came to losing their own, it took a long while to replace their numbers, not just anyone could join, so the stress of losing just one of them was hard, but four? and fifth one who may or may not be able to join back in the rank?

The burdens weighed heavily on their shoulders. Naruto sighed as he for the fifth time tried to go through one of the moving dogie doors on the main door, but after bumping his head a cursing so many times, Kiba must have awoken and opened the door for him. Naruto thanked him as he clattered into the kitchen table, then bumped a small dresser that held a vase, which hit him on the head as it fell of the dresser.

Naruto collapsed to drunk to care, Kiba sighed "come on, you are a hopeless drunk Naruto" Naruto spoke "oh...quiet...you stupid...mutt...I am...a drunk...okay...perfectly...err...perfectly...okay...drunk..." then he stuck his tongue out sloppily. Kiba chuckled "come on get to your pillow" "I...am on my pillow..." Kiba sighed "no...you are on my foot, now move".

But Naruto simply rolled over his belly up to Kiba, Kiba sighed and leaned down and picked his drunk friend of the floor, he then plopped him on his pillow "there you go your highness" "rub my feet slave" Naruto randomly spoke in his drunk sleep. Kiba laughed and went to bed.

* * *

Naruto cursed the world and everyone in it five times over before regrettably getting out of bed, he knew already that he was not going to try Gomeg's concoction of piss and who knows what else to cure his hang over, instead he was going to do the old fashion way, coffee, aspirin, and snapping at everyone for being loud and annoying.

By noon his hang over had subsided and he went to visit Mammoth, learn any news, so far Raven was making a recovery and had awoken sometime in the night, Mammoth had stayed the night just in case this happened, and he learned what had happened.

* * *

_ (flashback)_

_"well that was a waste of time" he said stretching his arms and yawning, "quiet Raven, it is not our duty to question the Generals orders" Lemur said in her uncaring tone. "someone sounds disappointed, is your boyfriend to much a lapdog for you?" Lemur punched at him playfully, they always did this on the way back from a mission, teased and joked with one another._

_"Quiet!" their leader yelled "what is it?" Lemur asked Cobra "shhh" he said again, "I thought I heard something" "probably another group going out on a mission, this is a well traveled area, quickest way to the hidden mist is through here" Cobra nodded accepting Lemur's idea, she was right besides they were close to the tower, why on earth would anyone attack Anbu here?_

_But still the feeling that you were being watched didn't escape Cobra, not until it was to late. In a flash something shot out form the trees wrapped around Lemurs neck and ripped it from her body, blood sprayed like a torrent from her. They returned fire, but these...these..things...they looked like chains, only they moved like whips, but had small thorn or claw like growths covering them, and finally they were made of chakra, wielded completely through and through with chakra._

_They came out randomly from the trees, they never even got to see their attackers. Finally they were all dead, at least that was what their enemy thought, but one had managed to hold on to life, and he dragged himself away when he sensed they were gone. He tried to make it to the tower but he couldn't. Then when his mind was playing tricks on him from the lack of blood, he saw a white wolf, at first he thought it was an angel ready to guide him to the afterlife, but it wasn't it was Fluffy, he had heard of him, and saw him, but never got to speak to him._

_Yet he spoke out in kindness, telling him to hold on, he tried to tell him what happened but all that came out was moans and grunts, intelligible sounds. Then there was blackness, but he knew he was alive, being healed, or else there wouldn't be this much pain. Then the next thing he knew, he was awake in the infirmary Mammoth sitting next to him quietly._

_He knew his team was dead, Cobra, Lemur and Crab but he still couldn't help looking for them in the beds next to him. Mammoth had calmed him and told him once more, he was the only one living, he was saddened why hand't he died with them? why not he die, and Lemur live? she had such good news to tell Terrier when she got home, tell him he was going to be a father, but now that over her and the baby dead, in one quick stroke._

_He cried and told Mammoth everything he knew, Mammoth listened through his sobs and assured him their deaths would not be wasted, and that he lived to carry on the info, the information the Anbu needed, to know who and what they were against._

* * *

Naruto was silent as he listened to what Mammoth had to say, he reached down for his probably twelfth cup of coffee, who knows how much he had before Naruto arrived. Naruto spoke "so chains...with thorns attached to them, made of chakra, some sort of Henkei genkai? Mammoth shrugged "I knew that the Uzumaki's of the whirlpool village, could create chains, and the Waya family had use of Chakra chains as well".

Naruto nodded "yes but the Uzumaki clan is scattered to a few survivors, and the Waya clan has only one member left, and that is Tomi, and he couldn't do anything like that, he has learned his clan secrets but nothing of this degree, plus he wouldn't do anything like this, he has a good heart". Mammoth nodded "I came to the same conclusion, so that means, either there is survivors of his clan, or we have Uzumaki's against us".

Naruto shook his head "no, this is no Uzumaki, the way you described them, these chains are different, way different" Mammoth glared at him "how would you know so much about the Uzumaki?" Naruto grinned "oh, we demons know a lot about the Uzumaki, or haven't you heard?" Mammoth nodded "very well I take you word, then tell me Wolf Heart, what do we have here?"

Naruto looked away "that's the thing sir, I have no idea, but I do know, it is something terrible". Mammoth nodded "you have the same feeling as well?" Naruto nodded "the feeling of dread? that something bad is looming over us? yes, yes I do, and I am not afraid to say that" Mammoth nodded " take it easy, and keep your wits about you, the Anbu is going to have to be strong and hold on before we can get to the bottom of this".

Naruto spoke "more are going to die...aren't they?" Mammoth sighed and sadly he looked to Naruto "yes, more will die, this was only the beginning, so keep an eye out on those students of yours, to bad the Gyrfalcons, migrated last week, we could have used their eyes". Naruto nodded as he remembered to his friends the Gyrfalcons, Sokol and his mate had three hatchlings, 'fluffies' as they called them.

Two girls and a boy, all of them the same dark gray slate color, with wide alien looking eyes, their wings were small tiny flaps of skin that they shook when they cried for food. At least that was what they were at first, the next time he was them they had grown more feathers and had stumbled around on unsteady legs.

They kept growing and growing until soon three little birds flew next to their father in the sky, they weren't as fast nor as agile, but they steadily flapped their wings to keep up with him. Sokol was so happy at the moment they had no names, they would wait until the naming ceremony back home. Naruto couldn't imagine, living without a name, until you reached a certain age, it seemed so confusing.

Naruto snapped back from his thoughts when Mammoth set his coffee on the desk "don't worry, Mammoth, we will get thought this...I know we will" Mammoth nodded "very well then, be off, I will call you when I need you". Naruto nodded he left and walked down the streets of Konoha, "I wonder what will happen?" he said as he looked up into the gray cloudy sky, a cold breeze suddenly blew down on him from the north, then it began to snow, three flakes fell upon his nose, he glanced down and looked at them, they melted when he did.

* * *

**wow, I have been moving haven't I? I guess it's mostly because I have nothing else to do, so I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I will soon be unveiling new enemies, and new abilities, please now, the next chapters things will happen, that you might be angry at me for doing, but I need you to stick with the story, I know I weave such an amazing tale of hope and always looking on the bright side of life, well all I can say is in the next chapters, there will be Blood, the white innocent snow, will be dyed red from it.**

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	40. The Chen Clan

**life as a Fox**

**NSW**

* * *

Naruto was right, more Anbu died, and not just Anbu several Jounin had died as well, all of them slaughtered with the same wounds, soon every ninja in the village was muttering to themselves quietly about what was happening. Trying to keep it from reaching the ears of the civilians they tried to cover it up, but civilians were at times like little rats, sticking their noses into things, and finding stuff they weren't meant to find, then they scurried back to their little holes and bred fear and suspicion among their family and neighbors.

But apparently all attacks, were made only on Konoha nin, no other nation had received anything else. So many began to wonder if one of the other nations was behind it? or was it just a grudge held against Konoha, and if it was a grudge, who was holding it and why? Either way times were tough for all of them, for ninja it was a world of fear, the killings were at random, it didn't matter if you were going on a class D mission or a class A, it didn't matter if you were a Jounin, or sadly even a Genin (three had died with their sensei, only ten miles form the main gate).

Every morning Naruto would look out at the snow, that had fallen, it was usually only a dusting, something that would be melted away by mid day. He would wonder every morning if somewhere that same pure innocent white snow was dyed red with the blood of one of his family, or if some poor students and their sensei were dead as well.

Civilian luckily were never attacked, only Ninja, so Ninja stopped doing escort services, because if they did do escorts, then the civilian would most likely be attacked because of the presence of the Ninja. The attacks did their toll on the Ninja, they had grown weary from the constant strain of being alert, few smiled anymore, they put up a front though, the image of being strong, but really all of them were afraid, afraid for their lives.

Mammoth one day called Naruto into his office "what is it sir?" he asked "I am tired of this Wolf Heart, I need answers now, that is why I am sending you out, no gear no nothing, you will go under the disguise as a regular little woodland animal, and track these bastards down? you got it?" Naruto did not get angry with Mammoth he knew Mammoth had not been sleeping, and had worked himself so much his body got sick, (he now had a stomach flu, but he tried to hide it)

Naruto nodded "I agree, I will do as you say, I will get answers for you Mammoth, or die trying" Mammoth swung his head over he looked at him sadly "for the sake of the Anbu, don't die trying, we need you, we need all". Naruto nodded "very well" Naruto then left he didn't have to worry about bringing, stuff he was just going to go home and say good-bye to Hinata and Kiba, and his students.

Hinata clutched unto him, not letting him go until she had sobbed herself he kept telling her that he would be careful, that he would be allright, that she shouldn't do this to herself, not when she was only three months away from having the baby. She agreed with him but couldn't help but worry, Kiba had to fianlly pull her away gently.

He turned to Naruto and said one thing "you know what will happen if you don't come back" Naruto nodded knowing full well. He glanced at Hinata who was cradled in Kiba's arms, looking so vulnerable and fragile. His heart hardened at this, he would survive, and he would bring answers, that everyone in the village was looking for, "Kiba...do you have any hair dye?" he asked an idea springing into his head.

* * *

Naruto ran through the dusting of snow, which still survived in the forest, much cooler and protected form the harsh sun that would have melted it. He went to the latest killing scene and tried to track them form there, he remembered how Raven had spoke, they attacked from the trees, so he sniffed and scented the trees in the area, at first he picked up nothing, but then he smelled it, the odor of a man, who had sweated much.

Naruto did not recognize the scent, most ninja from the hidden leaves...smelled like leaves, and forest they smelled like the scents of the village, it dind't matter if they had their own scents to them which everyone did, but they all had a base scent which Naruto could identify. This scent smelled like fire and smoke, hinted with a tang of blood.

Naruto growled and followed the trail, it winded and veered all over the place, making it a slow process for him, as if the man knew that they would try to track him by scent, he was good, but Naruto was better. As the man got more and more away from the place, he grew lax in his attempt to hide his scent, grew lazy then gave up all together, he did not hide his tracks, he did not mind when branches ripped a bit of his clothing or caught strands of his hair, long and a pale white with a tint of silver.

Judging by how high up the hair strand was, Naruto could see that this man was taller then most and by the way he carried himself, by judging the tracks, he was a slim well balanced man. Almost graceful, Naruto's stomach growled violently, he sighed and began to tracks down a rabbit a few meters from the trial, he killed it and ate, not caring it was raw, he actually preferred it that way, he just made sure Hinata and the others didn't know.

After heating he of course felt thirsty, so he went to a nearby brook and drank his fill, the ice cold water was perfect, he smirked as he looked down the hair dye had did the trick, he knew that he would be spotted right away as 'The White Demon' if he was white, but thanks to his Black coat he would now look like an ordinary wolf.

He went back to the trail and tracked them another three days, he said them because the man he had followed joined with seven others in an abandoned campsite, that looked well used. The wood they burned he could tell was the smokeless kind so he guessed they had did all their base of operations here, he also found a map that was scribbled into the earth, with X's on it where the attacks were.

A vile anger shot though his system, but he took a deep breath and controlled himself he would find them. So after resting briefly he continued to follow them. Then he finally found their home, deep deep in a place that was between the land of Hot-springs and the Sound, their trail led to a small village. Naruto staked the village for three days, it seemed normal, at day tome the children went out and played, staying within view of the village of course.

The village itself sat in between the joining of two large hills, and to its back was nestled a large rock what could have been an ancient sea bed at one time. On either side of the village grew large pine trees old and very large they stretched into the air some of them almost 75 feet. Naruto payed close attention to the number of huts/houses, at the most there could have been 25 maybe thirty, so not to many, there was a few large huts but Naruto decided one was a meeting hall or safety shelter, a placed they gathered in times of need.

He had once read in a book that ancient people during winter would all gather into one large lodge and live the entire winter together there, maybe these Hill people still followed this tradition to this day. The other large structures he marked off as animal stables, due to the smell they gave off. Naruto finally after studying the village had came up with the conclusion that they posted no night guard, most likely because there was no reason to, they lived nowhere close to a place where people would travel to, they mostly lived secluded.

Naruto wandered into the village on the third night, all of them asleep, he had noted that during the day when the children played, and the women worked (all of whom had the same long silver/white hair, and pale silver eyes) a certain group of men about twelve to fifteen went into the large meeting hall. The other men about seven or eight of them went out and hunted, while another couple or so trained a group of about sixteen adolescent boys.

He had yet to see what they were training in, mostly because they would disappear into a hole in the rock wall behind the village, he guessed it might lead to a training ground carved inside the rock. Naruto would check on it later, first he snuck into the large building, and looked up to the rafters. He almost yelped out in surprise.

Bear heads, Wolf fur's, Deer heads, anything from an animal you could imagine was stuffed and displayed, from a full body grizzly, standing eleven feet high, to a pair of wolves standing next to each other, a smaller female in front slim and white, with gray marking through her fur, to a black male standing beside her. They both looked towards something in the distance, their eyes and ears alert, he let out a slow breath, wondering for a moment if they could have been demons, posing as real wolves, like most do.

He bowed his head to them, he knew they had been hunted ages ago, the dust on their fur revealed that information. Luckily there was large bundles of fur's and blankets in the middle of the rafters, he grinned and leaped up to situate himself among the furs. He got himself comfy then waited until morning.

* * *

Naruto awoke to the sound of the door opening, he suppressed a yawn and moved very carefully, to the edge, hoping to sneak a peak at them. The main man everyone followed was the man he recognized by sent, he suppressed a growl. This man was the one who had killed he knew that. He was tall, and slim which Naruto figured. He looked to be about thirty, maybe more or less it was hard to tell when they all had a gray silver hair.

Naruto waited, they all sat sat down, after starting a big roaring fire, which crackled and cast off a nice homey glow, Naruto for a second thought how amazing it would be to lay next to a fireplace curled up with the flames at his back, with a nice fur rug beneath him. He let out a soft quiet sigh at the thought. 'someday' he thought.

The men brought out cured meat and freshly baked bread, Naruto's mouth watered. How amazing that bread smelled, and that meat almost mad his stomach growled, he chewed a cord of leather to keep his stomach quiet. First they talked about random village affairs, how much more meat to dry and to store, some spoke of what their children did last night, or what their wives made for dinner.

Naruto almost fell asleep form boredom until the leader spoke "now to business, the village of Konoha, we have tested their abilities, they have grown aware now, and are fighting back, in one of those last attacks one of their Jounin killed one of our own, they have jutsu's thousands of them, that we have no idea, and have never seen before, they have people with abilities that do surpass our own, ones that can see through walls and trees, can see right through your skin and see everything."

The man muttered to themselves."They also have those with abilities to control you, with your own shadow, others who can take control of your mind, and others who can turn themselves several times bigger then this building". The man continued to speak "we may have killed a few fleas here and there, but they still stand as one of the most prominent forces the world has ever seen, they have more children in one of their classes then we possible have in our village."

One man spoke up "so what do you want us to do?" The man got up and went to the fire slowly turning a log then he looked up onto the mantle where a wolf skull was mounted, jaw open as if attacking the face before it. "we need to know the secrets of those clans, we need to learn the jutsu's of this nation, if we wish to defeat them"

One man spoke up "how do we defeat them? you just said they out number us" The man turned and smiled "easy, one by one, like a great forest that they are, we slowly chip away and cut down every tree, first the large ones, the ones protecting the smaller weaker ones, and soon one day, there will be no forest left."

The man stepped to the table "Soon the Chen clan will be the most powerful and feared clan, we will be the ones to single handily bring down the village of the leaves, a feat no one, has ever done before". Naruto thought to himself '_not if I have anything to say about it' _ The men then went back to talking about village affairs for another hour, then they slowly dispersed.

Once the last man left, Naruto began to make his way across the rafters, towards the window he had spotted. But suddenly the door opened, Naruto dashed and his behind the black wolf that was mounted in the rafters. He copied the position of the wolf, and hoped he blended. He watched the man go to the table and crawl underneath it to pick up something he must have dropped and forgot.

It was a pair of glasses he cleaned them, then he walked over to the fireplace, he looked at the wolf skull, he slowly reached out to touch the wolf skull. Naruto couldn't help himself he growled the man jumped away from the wolf skull, he looked at it closely, then around the room, he shook his head and hurriedly made his way out.

Naruto sighed as he relaxed, then nodded to his brother and sister he lept to the window, looking around he then dashed for the forest. But he paused as he heard a voice yelling commands from within the rock. He couldn't help himself, he had to study their fighting skills, and their weird ability. He snuck up towards the opening, one last look over his shoulder he entered.

He scurried through the stone tunnel that was lighted by lanterns here and there, following the echo, he came to a large opening, it was a huge cavern. He leaped up and hid himself behind some rocks before anyone saw. The sixteen or so boys, were practicing, each had a large rock they were targeting, He finally saw what it was, it was chakra chains, but they weren't chains, well they looked like them, they were kinked but other then that, they were whips.

Each boy created one with chakra in his hands, then he would throw his arm back and while the whip was in mid air, the boy out stretched his hand, as he controlled the whip form then on with chakra. The whip struck the rock, latching on with thorns, then the boys would clench their hands then pull back, and the whip pulled back with them, the rocks crumbled and tore away.

Naruto watched and studied, their movements, he then times how long it usually took for them to hit the target. From what he could tell it was usually three to five seconds depending on the distance, what he did not is, they could not move while doing this, something that helped them out, which is why they probably hid themselves, he also noted that, they had a small chakra supply, but they controlled it and used every single particle of it to its absolute maximum.

Naruto nodded happy, he knew their numbers, their abilities, and their name and plans, he considered it a job well done. He descended form his perch and began to sneak away. But then a voice rang out "okay turn in" so as one the huge group stopped and turned towards the entrance, where he stood with a lantern to his back lighting his form.

The boys paused, he ran for it, he heard the boys speak "a dog! a dog there was a dog!" Naruto ran as fast as he could through the veering caverns, he heard footsteps behind him a grown adult spoke "what color was it!" "black, it was black" a voice spoke they slowed a bit "it wasn't white?" Naruto thought to himself '_so they know about me?' _ The men still chased after him, he looked back, they were around the corner.

"that's no dog, it's a wolf, and it has a chakra signature" the man said his eyes glowing! Naruto swore "It's the demon! the demon of Konoha STOP IT" he yelled Naruto ran faster he looked forward only to notice the wall in front of him '_I knew there was another turn'_ he thought to himself before running into it. Luckily he turned and hit it with his shoulder, "argh" he said only to have a whip hit above his head, he began to run, only to have another hit his shoulder.

Luckily he had studied enough to know, to go towards the target, like a fishhook, they were curved thorns, so by going forward it loosened the thorn and it slipped out. Rather then pulling back and losing half of your skin trying to rip it out of you. The man was surprised at this, as his target ran away, with a minor flesh wound instead of a gaping hole.

But luckily his partner was smart and went for a leg that was in forward motion, the demon didn't have time to pull of the same trick. Naruto instead felt helpless as he felt as though something just bit a chunk of his leg off. He looked down he could see his muscle and a small portion of his bone. Luckily adrenaline was halting pain at the moment, as he ran as fast as he could away.

By the time the two men got to broad daylight, they were momentarily paused and blinded as the sun hit their eyes. They opened them and saw not one, but twelve black wolves, all of them wounded running different directions. "he will be the one heading for the forest come on" Naruto grinned as he hid himself in a hey stack in the stables, how wrong they were.

He waited until the village was called to track down his clones. When it was empty he simply walked out of the main gate of the village and ran for home.

He was good until the adrenaline stopped, and the full pain of the wound hit him, he whimpered when he applied pressure, so he had to hobble on three legs for a ways, then he tried to find something to staunch the blood flow, he knew he lost a lot of blood. But he had ended his trial by walking upstream quite a ways.

He noted that there was no tracking dogs in the village, just mangy small mountain dogs, of a sheep herding breed. Mostly docile unless there was a sheep around. He lay down in a small abandoned burrow and licked his wound. He had to get to Konoha, to receive medical attention. He got up after a bit, the wound had slowed on the bleeding but a few small droplets came from it.

Taking care not to step on it, he limped all the way home. It took five days, and by the end of the fifth he was exhausted and twenty miles form home, he dared to risk howling, only because he was out of energy to do anything else. He let up a howl, a howl he put the last bits of energy in, hoping his students, or Gomeg could sense and know to come to his rescue.

* * *

Gomeg sensed the howl, the cry for help. His demon in him reacted to the demon power emitted form the howl, to far away to be heard, but he sensed it. Gomeg growled and ran for Mammoths office, asking for an escort he bolted in and leaped onto the man's desk "Listen to me and you listen good, Fluffy has survived his mission but he is in bad shape, I need four men to come with me and bring him home you got it young in?"

Mammoth rose "very well, lead on" Gomeg nodded and they gathered three other men, and they traveled, Gomeg on Mammoths shoulders pointing the way. He on occasion would send a few yips himself answering Fluffy, telling him he was coming. Finally they found him, they were surprised to see a black wolf instead of white.

He had hid himself in a small opening of a tree trunk, when he saw them he had dragged himself out. Gomeg got to work right away, he had lost much blood. "what happened to you?" Fluffy grinned "I found our enemy" Fluffy turned to Mammoth "small village three days on four legs, five days on three, so probably seven days on two" he said jokingly, "small, only forty at the most, all have silver white hair, and eyes, the Chen clan, they plan to cut the leaves down one by one".

Mammoth grinned underneath his mask, it was nice to finally have answers, to know their enemy. Fluffy continued "there ability is chakra WHIPS, with thorns, about three to five second delay, and they have to stand still to concentrate, so someone would have to be the bait, while another pinpoints them and attacks, if you are hit move towards them, the thorn will fall out, like a fishhook, make sure to do it while not running".

He said glancing at him leg. Mammoth leaned down and placed his hand on Fluffy's head "you, are a wonderful creature Fluffy, just wonderful, rest, you are in good hands". Fluffy grinned then slowly his eyes closed as he drifted to sleep.

* * *

The information was soon spread throughout the Anbu, first they sent out the best and fastest spies to confirm Fluffy's story, they found the village, already preparing itself for a move. So two men stayed behind to be long-run spies and to keep track of them, while the rest headed back to inform Mammoth. Kakashi was informed and soon the entire Ninja population was debriefed.

Naruto was treated like a king for a few days as Hinata waited on him claw and paw.(XD) His students kept on wanting him to tell him what happened again and again. Naruto told them five times before he said enough was enough and had to rest. Naruto glanced out the window, the snow was falling down he knew that the snow and winter was here to stay.

He randomly turned to Kiba who read a book called 'what young fathers need to know' Naruto spoke "I want a fireplace" he said Kiba slowly pulled his head out of his book and looked at him "what?" Naruto nodded "a fireplace, and nice fur rug, preferably bear, right here, can you just imagine it, it would be perfect, get one soon"

Kiba stared at him "how much blood did you loose again?" Naruto bared his fangs "I am being serious, a fireplace, I want one" Kiba rolled his eyes "I have to pay for a kid, I can't buy you your every whim" Naruto glared at him "I would pay for it, I just want you to order one" Kiba rubbed his face "no" Naruto sighed "worth a try, how about for a birthday gift?"

Kiba turned to him "how about if you bring it up, I will get one, then I will stuff you and place you next to it" Naruto grinned "as long as I am on my pillow, I am cool with it" Kiba chuckled "or maybe I will turn you into a nice fur coat for Hinata" Naruto glared at him "come now, don't be absurd, you would need many of me to cover her" Kiba got a smile to his face then he yelled out "Hinata, Naruto just called you fat".

"WHATTTTT" came a screech, as the floor quaked as a pregnant women stomped towards them, her bulging belly could be seen before her actual self "who called me FAT?" Naruto whimpered "no one, oh great and beautiful Hinata" Hinata suddenly became an angel where there once was a demon, "oh thank-you you are so sweet".

Hinata looked to Kiba, who had his feet resting on the living room table "FEET OFF THE TABLE"! she screamed "why do you do this to me? do you not care about me at all! I am having your baby and you keep ignoring me! I hate you YOU BASTARD" then she stormed away. But suddenly came back "I am so sorry I didn't mean that, I love you"

Kiba smiled unsure of what else to do "I love you too" Hinata kissed him then pranced happily away. Naruto and Kiba glanced at each other "pregnant women are scary" they said at the same time.

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**Next installment done, I am trying to finish as much as I can before college so maybe a new chapter every day yay!**

**NSW**


	41. Snow, snow, snow!

**Life As A Fox**

**Chapter 41**

**NSW**

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Winter had finally set in Konoha, the entire village was covered under a sheet of thick white snow, and more was on its way, people predicted that this would be the longest winter Konoha would ever receive. This would cause many complications, but at the moment no one seemed to care, everyone seemed much more happy, the blanket of snow seemed to erase away the fear of before and gave hope and renewal back to the village and it's occupants.

So on this day, everyone was out enjoying the snow, everywhere there was Snow forts and snow angels being made, snow ball fights broke out at random and stopped just as randomly, throughout the village you could hear the sound of laughter and joy as once for the first time the village as a whole released a silent sigh. Naruto enjoyed the snow greatly, he and Akamaru bounded and leaped as they ran through the snow.

Naruto and Akamaru's relationship was more like Lennie and George's relationship in the always classical 'Of Mice and Men' by John Steinbeck. Where Naruto was the smart leader of the two and had to watch out for the not to bright Akamaru and make sure he didn't do anything harmful or stupid. Akamaru spoke to Naruto in his dog tongue in short excited words, or small phrases, he saw Naruto as his friend and companion but he also relinquished all control to Naruto, because Akamaru himself also realized that Naruto was much smarter than him, and like a small child he would listen and follow Naruto.

Naruto lost himself to a few hours of just rolling around and playing in the snow, the crisp air and the cleanliness it seemed to cast on everything when it covered the ground gave an aura of order and pristine beauty. Naruto almost hated walking through the snow and disrupting its perfect wholeness. But alas the fun of the snow called on him to greatly and he could not refuse. Hinata watched from the patio door, she smiled and laughed at the both of them.

Kiba had joined them later and threw snowballs at them, Akamaru dumbly tried to fetch them, but found out to his surprise that when he went to get the snow ball it had disappeared and what remained was a white powder pile. Soon Akamaru grew tired and flopped down in the snow and just lay there. Kiba leaped upon him and wrestled with him, it had been so long since the two of them had any alone time. I t was always work or Hinata and the baby, there were few times when these childhood companions could just be them anymore.

After awhile Kiba and Akamaru just lay next to each other, Kiba's head on Akamarus chest, Naruto came over and laid next to them. "so how you feeling?" Naruto asked Kiba, Kiba glanced at him "about what?" Naruto nodded towards Hinata, "being a father, everything that happened" Kiba sighed "honestly, I am scared shitless" Naruto glanced at him "but you seem so excited, I though you wanted to be a father" Kiba nodded "I do, I do want to be a father, but I am just scared, this isn't like a doll or like Tomi, where I got a kid that could talk back to me and tell me what it wants, this isa baby, a crying screaming baby, that I have to teach everything, how to walk, how to talk, I have to teach him or her how to behave and how to be respectful, and how to share, and most importantly how to love".

Naruto nodded his fears justified parenthood was a big step "don't worry Kiba, you and Hinata there is two of you, you can learn together, you guys are a perfect team, you both can do this, sure you might run into a few obstacles but you will able to face them together and get through them". Kiba nodded "thanks Naruto, you know, you have gotten pretty wise since your academy days" Naruto smirked "I bet I have, eh I am just talented like that, besides when you think about it, having a baby is live having a puppy, it would be like raising Akakamau again".

Kiba glanced at Akamaru "not much of a confidence installer, I still haven't gotten him to stop chewing my things" Naruto shrugged "at least babies don't chew on shoes" Kiba nodded "that's a relief" Naruto nodded "yes they prefer to grab things smaller and that can lodge into their throats easily, shoes are to bulky for that job" Kiba blanched. Naruto got up "hey if you have a boy, maybe threatening to neuter him might to the trick"

Naruto then had to run for it as Kiba chased him throwing snow balls and yelling loudly that the only balls he would be taking away would be Naruto's. Naruto laughed as he escaped and ran to where his team lived. They to where outside "hey sensei" Gin said grinning and eating a snowball. Naruto nodded to them "how are you all today?" Gin jumped down to him (she was sitting in a tree when he came) "happy! first time seeing snow!"

Naruto paused "really?" Gin nodded "yeah the land of rain doesn't get snow, we get rain, all the time, and Baru lived in the mines so he never saw it either, he never knew about rain either until he met us-" Naruto nodded cutting her off "I get it, well let me show you how to enjoy it properly, first stop eating it, it will make you have to go to the bathroom, plus it will give you a stomach ache." Gin threw thew snow away behind her back.

Naruto nodded "right first is first...snow angel" Gin glanced at him then to the snow, "what make an angel?" Naruto nodded "Gin, I want you to stretch out your arms then close your eyes" Gin did so then waited "good, now brace for impact" Gin was about to ask what he was talking about when she felt a forceful shove on her chest, and she went falling backwards into a soft pillow of snow, she was instantly submerged in the freezing goodness of it.

He began to direct her "wave your arms above your head and open and close your legs, pretend you are swimming" Gin did as he told "good now keep your eyes closed and grab my tail" Gin did "now on the count of three I am going to pull you out, you have to jump so you don't mess the angel up trying to get out of it". Gin nodded then on three she leaped as Naruto pulled her. She landed in the snow breathless, who knew it was so enticing and tiring to play in this stuff?

Naruto looked up to her "look down" Gin turned and looked at her art, Fluffy-sensei was right, it was a snow angel. She had made a snow angel "its beautiful" she said, then slowly the tears began to form in her eyes. Naruto looked up at her "what's wrong, she turned to him, she was at that moment the full incorporation of the word and meaning 'cute' the way she was bundled in Baru's oversized sweater and pants, with a purple scarf wrapped around her neck, she wore a matching set of ear muffs.

Her skin tinged purple from the cold, but she didn't shiver, she looked at him with those precious eyes of hers "its beautiful because of what you have done, you have given us a life, we could never have dreamed, you have opened a world for us, and if I where to die right here and now, I would die happy because I got to meet you and experience this life". Naruto was silent for a moment "your words they...they have touched me deeply Gin, I am happy that I was able to show you this world as well, and you too have brought great happiness to me, you, Chikao and Baru, all three of you have given to me the joys...the joys of being a proud parent".

Naruto turned away tears in his eye, it was true some of his happiest moments in his life were teaching these three. Gin kneeled down and placed a hand under his chin, she turned his head so they stared into each others eyes, she then softly wrapped her delicate arms around his neck, and they hugged. It seemed at that moment for both he and Gin, that winter no longer existed because the warmth of that hug and the feeling of having someone, the feeling of the pack between them, was so strong the outside world eradicated from their minds.

A voice broke through to them "oi, what's with the sappy stuff? come on let's have a snow-ball fight!" Naruto and Gin split as they dodged a barrage of snowball from Chikao and Baru. Naruto laughed and chased after them. Nipping at them playfully. Chikao and Baru took turns wrestling with him, soon all three of them lay in a pile looking up into the sky.

Chikao spoke "but Gin is right, if I never met you Sensei, I...I don't know what I would be doing now, or where I would be,...personally I don't want to know" Baru spoke "my world, before was dark, constant dark, I thought that was the only thing the world had in it, was just darkness and rock, it's how I was raised how I lived, everyone around me thought the same, dig deeper, dig further, like the earth was an endless tunnel".

He paused and continued "when I first saw the sun, I was afraid, to have something so far away, so brightly burning constantly watching me, I thought I would go insane, the world was so open, and so bright, rock is buried underneath layers of grass, or under trees, no place to hide everything so different so strange, I wandered trying to find stone, trying to find darkness, for days I wandered, thirsty, hungry, till I found that bridge".

He paused and shuffled about "that bridge was literally my rock, a foundation, it was made of limestone and held darkness underneath it, I curled up into a little ball and basked in that small shadow of darkness, the only place I felt safe, I was hungry and cold, but I didn't care, I had my rock and I had my darkness" Baru sighed at the memory.

He continued "then these two found me, they gave me food, they showed me that sun was good, grass was good, trees good, trees provide darkness, trees provide shelter, trees like rock, hard only they had soft stuff at the end of it." Baru continued "I lived in a very limited world, all three of us did, we all dreamed that we would someday be great ninja and then we would never know hunger again, but we were naïve, I know that now, we weren't thinking things through and no one believed in us or thought we could do it, they just saw us as orphans and brats, misfits that would never survive."

Baru turned to Fluffy leaning on his elbows "but you, you did, from the moment you saw us, you knew we had the potential, you didn't see us as trash or as broken things to be thrown aside, you took us and mended us, saved us even, we owe you our lives, thank-you Sensei, but I want to ask something that has bugged me since I first came here...why?"

Naruto paused and took much time before answering, he got up "you might want to come with me" The three of them followed him as he weaved through the snow filled streets until he came to the entrance of the Cemetary, after walking the all to familiar and haunting path to his grave, Naruto stepped forward and brushed snow off his head stone.

He turned "the name of this stone, is it familiar?" Gin nodded "Naruto...that's what Hinata and Kiba call you sometimes" he nodded "I kind of wondered" Naruto turned "that's because this man, buried underneath you feet...he was an orphan as well, he knows exactly how you feel, for he felt the same way when he was growing up, everyone counted him out thought he was broken as well, all it takes is one person to belive in you, one person to show you that you have the potential that you have what it takes and you three can be like this man, be considered a hero to all".

Gin nodded "was this man your master Fluffy?" Naruto smirked and turned "no, he wasn't my master, Uzumaki Naruto...he was the man I once was" There was a silence that went for a long time "wait...what?" Chikao said Naruto looked to them "Uzumaki Naruto was the holder of the nine tailed fox, when he died he made a deal with the demon inside of him, long story short, he could live out his life once more, but only in the body of a-" "demon" Chikao said finishing his sentence.

Naruto nodded "correct a demon wolf to be exact, although somehow there is a little fox thrown in there somewhere" he added dryly. Gin held a hand on her mouth and was crying "Gin what's wrong?" she threw herself at him "but...but, you died! that must have been horrible! it must have been painful for you, I am so sorry that I sometimes complain about minor injuries! I mean that's nothing compared to dying! I feel so horrible"

Naruto gave an exasperated sigh "it's okay, Gin...it's all right, okay? I am allright, see I am over it? come now, you three need a good heaping bowl of ramen to cheer you up...oh and also" he added as they turned away to head to the ramen stand "this is sort of secret, I don't want the word out that Uzumaki Naruto is still alive...only in a much more...beastly form"

Gin skipped forward "race you to the ramen stand, loser pays" Naruto called after her "oi are you even listening to me?" Gin nodded then giggled and ran away. Chikao raced after her Naruto stopped Baru, "Baru, when we first met, you said you hated the mines, that they weren't safe, and that you hated darkness"

Baru paused "I did, I loved and hated it, I hated it because it was dangerous, but I loved it because it was the only thing I knew, it was the only life I had, it may have sucked but it was home, until it completely collapsed". Naruto paused "completely collapsed?" Baru nodded "yeah everyone but me and a couple of others survived".

Then Baru raced off Naruto sighed "dammit, there goes another paycheck" he said as he raced after his three small but ravenous students.

* * *

Naruto slurped his noodles greedily, oh how he loved the flavor and warmth of these beautiful creations. "so" he said pausing "where did you grow up Chikao? Gin had mentioned something about the Rain, but I thought you said you both grew up in the Sound" Chikao nodded "both of us were in the same system for years, we both got dropped off at the same orphanage, only she was a year later" Chikao said looking to Gin "we grew up together, then when I was five and she four we were sent to a different Orphanage, in the sound, because the one in the Rain was being shut-down".

Chikao sighed "the sound was a tough one, all the children in the Sound disliked us kids from the Rain, they always teased us and stole our things, excluded us form games, told us to leave and hide when people came to look at us for adoption" Naruto froze "they made you hide when people came to look at you for adoption?" Chikao nodded "yes, if we came out we would get hurt really bad, one kid...I can't remember his name, but he always colored a lot, he went out, of course they didn't do anything to him there, but when they left...they dragged him to the bathroom and dumped chemicals in his eyes...he was blind after that"

Naruto stared dumbly at what Chikao said 'how could children be so cruel?...then again they were probably desperate for love and was willing to do anything to make sure they were picked and not anyone else' Chikao shook his head "by that time I was six and she five, I slowly began to put together a sack of supplies and hid it in a tree out back, none of the sound kids would climb trees, and in a year I knew I had enough to go, so in the dead of night, I took Gin and got out of there, a couple weeks later we found Baru, then we banded together and stuck out on our own, and have been that way ever since".

Naruto smiled softly "I am proud of you, that was a very brave thing to do, it took a lot of courage to leave" Chikao shrugged "I just knew that place wasn't safe, and to protect Gin and myself, we had to leave" Naruto nodded "never forget that" he spoke suddenly "never forget what?" Naruto smiled "never forget your reason of doing something, never forget your Nindo, never forget your way of how you do things".

Chikao nodded...then paused "wait...what is my Nindo?" Naruto shrugged "I can't not tell, that is something that each Ninja must find on his or her own" By this time the old man ramen server had come by "listen to your sensei kids, he is right, I once had a boy come by everyday eat my ramen, his Nindo was to never stop trying, never give up and to not back down, and he never did, that kid had more guts than anyone I know, and he didn't do it for honor, he didn't do it for money, he did it...he did it to protect the ones he loved and cared for, which I could never figure out, how that kid could love the village that could be so cruel to him, so mean, yet he would smile and take it all in stride, then save their lives a thousand times over."

Gin spoke "what was his name?" The man grinned a sparkle to his eyes "Uzumaki Naruto, the greatest Ninja I ever knew, and I am proud still to this day, that I served him my ramen" the man sighed "I can't help but think that someday he is going to walk back through those flaps and sit down and beg for a bowl...he was always broke, but I couldn't help saying no to those eyes" The man ladled more into Chikao's bowl "eat up, you need to grow some more boy" Chikao thanked the man.

Gin spoke "so...he died correct?" the man nodded "of course, gave his life in the war...haaa" the man said sighing with anger "that boy, he was always trying to carry out two goals, one get his 'best friend' back into the village and two become Hokage...well he got his best friend back to the village all right, he now sits in jail for murdering him" Gin gasped "you mean...his best friend killed him?" the man nodded "isn't that what I just said? I was there for the trial...your sensei here was the one who put him there, one of the main witnesses, but Uchiha Sasuke wasn't put in jail because of just that, he was put in jail because he was caught attempting to assinate the Hokage...several times".

There was a silence then Naruto spoke "yes well...I believe I shall pay and get these kids' home, spent a long day playing in the snow" so Naruto quickly paid and they walked away. "did you really have to ask him that? he always goes into to detail, he never knows when to shut-up" Naruto muttered. Gin glomped him "I'm sorry, I really am, it's just I wanted to know...it was like morbid curiosity" Naruto sighed "you know that curiosity killed the cat" Gin smiled softly "yeah, but 'knowing brought it back".

Naruto nodded "I see, well you could have asked me anyways, now to home let's go" "I think I know what my Nindo is" Chikao said looking up into the winter night sky, it was a dead calm, not a cloud, every star sparkling and beaming down. He turned to them "my Nindo, is to protect those who believe in me, protect those who love me, and I will do so, with every portion of my body and soul, and I will never give up on them or myself, and I will not back down from anyone who wishes harm on those I care about...my Nindo...is the Nindo of protecting those I love".

Naruto nodded "that's good, never forget that, and one thing all of you should know, the moment you find your Nindo, never be afraid of dying for it, because dying by your own code of honor, is one of the greatest things you can do". Baru nodded "yeah, but lets not be fools and just throw our lives away because we are too stupid to know when we are outmatched" Naruto grinned "Baru, let me tell you something, even in defeat, the fox always has a trump card up his sleeve".

Baru was confused by this, but nodded anyway taking that piece of information to heart, something told him that everything his sensei was telling him, was very important to both him and them, and it would be a waste if he ignored his teachers lessons.

The three of them said goodnight to him, then turned to leave, Naruto stood and watched after them. Something rattled in the cans Naruto turned to see a stray cat digging for food. He turned back his students gone, their foot prints ended suddenly telling him they had leaped from that point and continued home by jumping and running across roofs. A cold wind then blew towards him, picking up the snow, and in a mini tornado of white flakes he was blinded momentarily, he shook his fur and looked back their footprints were gone, erased by the snow.

For some odd reason he felt a chill go down his spine, but cast aside for snow melting in the interior layer of his fur. He turned and headed home, but first he stopped and got some food then went back to that cat, and placed it in front of her, she took it and ate it purring, he then watched as she went into the alley that was safe from the cold bitter winds, and nestle into a small warm nest where four little kittens nestled up to her mewing for her milk and warmth.

Naruto turned and continued home, it was doing small favors like this that made him feel like a good person, simple ordinary tasks, like giving a starving mother food for her babies, or giving warmth to a cold shoulder or even turning a willing ear to a person that needed to talk, all these things anyone could do and accomplish, but few did, because they claimed they never had the time for it, that they weren't equipped for it, Naruto disagreed, anyone could do anything like this, if they only have the heart to do so.

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**I wanted to have more one on one time with Naruto and his students so that is why this chapter came to be, I also wanted to go more internally into some of the characters (Kiba) and how he feels about things, being a dad stuff like that. I added that last paragraph as well a lesson for you all, we all can do simple things, that to other people would mean the world to them, so if we just do those small things we could be a hero to a person and not even know, all because we took the time to care.**

**NSW**


	42. A Brighter Future

**Life As A Fox**

**Chapter 42**

**NSW**

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Somehow they had did it, the Chen clan had killed both spies that had been spying on them. (Then knew this because when a spy dies he has a special seal release on his body that allows for a simple black bird to fly to its destination to the palms of the one who holds that other side of the seal tattoo) Mammoth sighed this was a great distress to him, but he knew it was dead of winter and that they wouldn't get far with an entire village to move somewhere. Women, children, pack animals, possessions all of them added up and slowed them down.

He sighed, he would just have to send better trackers and spies, then the door burst open, unannounced "SIR" a man yelled Mammoth stood up stiff from long hours of working behind a desk "The vaults have been broken into" Mammoth's heart skipped a beat, the vaults were where the village stored all the ancient scrolls, they housed information, family trees, and data on everything from the era of 2nd Hokage to now.

It was a library of the entire village's defense, all categorized and labeled neatly. It was supposed to be watched and guarded, but few knew where it was, and nobody knew of anyone who would want to go down there. So the duty to protecting it had grown lax. He swore "what was stolen?" he asked "the scroll of 1,000 leaves, and a few clan scrolls"

Mammoth sighed the clan scrolls were actually worthless, they had no secrets about the clans, maybe secret marriages and things of that nature but when it came to fighting style and things of that nature, they were worthless, clans were smart and housed all that in their own private and secret areas. But the scroll of 1,000 leaves, that was an entirely different matter.

That contained many Class B and higher jutsu's only known and used by the Ninja of Konoha, techniques and styles written down by the strongest and greatest of Ninja, it was honor to have your jutsu added to its vast collection of deadly abilities. Hokages had put some of their own jutsu's in there, jutsu's few in this village could even accomplish, but in the hands of other people with the inspiration to do so, they could be an unstoppable force, using secrets even they in the village have forgotten about.

Mammoth regrettably called for the one person that could do this, even though he knew that person was on personal leave. His mission bird (by summer a hawk, by winter an owl) flew through the snow laden streets to a house that was preparing for a new arrival, one that could arrive any day.

The bird flew around to the patio door, and then landed, it rapped its beak against the door, Akamaru leaped to his feet and barked at the bird. The owl glared at him from the other side of the door. Naruto calmed Akamaru and walked forward, he recognized Mammoth's winter mission bird, a white summoning owl named Taku.

Taku remained standing out in the snow, the feathers on his feet kept them from freezing, he looked up at Naruto "you are summoned, it is urgent" Naruto nodded then the bird turned and flew off into the night. Naruto ran to his closet and began to throw his garments on. Hinata came in, he swore "I know Hinata, I know, but don't worry I promise I will be there, I will be there for the birth, this will only take a little time".

Hinata sighed but nodded "fine, but remember you don't have much time to play with" Naruto glanced at her enormous belly, it was hard to believe only one baby was in there, course, Hinata was a small framed girl, so the baby bump made her look tiny. Naruto gave her one last wry grin, then bounded out to where he was called.

* * *

Mammoth spoke "the tracks are fresh, and to sneak into the village means it was a small group, a few probably left their main force to come here, while the rest forged ahead to a new home." Naruto nodded it was understandable, the barrier that surrounds the village would have went off if a group of enemy Ninja larger than twenty entered its perimeter.

Naruto nodded "so the mission is to track them down, and take back the scroll?" Mammoth nodded "yes, would you like to go alone or shall I find you some partners?" Naruto shook his head "I will take my team, we can handle them, besides I have seen what they can do, I know what to expect." Mammoth nodded "very well, be careful".

Naruto nodded little did Mammoth know, was that his team had greatly improved in the Anbu, many of them had made friends with some of them, and had received extra training, Naruto considered them adequate at handling many things, especially Chikao and his latest invention, which was a jutsu made out of respect for him.

* * *

_Naruto raced along enjoying the feeling of running, as he glided over the top crusted layer of snow (the snow that had not been disrupted was the stuff in the few small meadows that outlay outside of the village, the sun would beat down on the snow melting a bit, but then it would freeze overnight and create a icy layer above the snow making it frozen and able to walk on top of)_

_He enjoyed himself greatly his tongue lolling to the side of his mouth as he ran, then from the woods he saw a shadow, racing along as well, he veered closer to study this new interest. The shadow kept pace with him remaining close enough to see, but far away enough to not get a real glimpse, a vague recollection, a shadow of a shadow._

_Naruto dove into the trees, wanting to know what it was, he added a burst of speed and was after it. It ran faster but not fast enough, it acted like a small child beginning to walk, teetering and tottering everywhere, unsure of it's own strength. He gained upon it and pounced, they rolled together then landed, Naruto on top. He looked into the brown eyes of another wolf like himself._

_He gasped in suprise, then relaized these brown eyes were familier, along with the fur. "Chi-...Chikao?" he said backing away. Chikao stood, tail wagging. He shook himself "suprise!" he said. Naruto was taken aback. "wha-...what is this?" Naruto asked "it's a new jutsu that Chikao has made" said another wolf, pure silver with eyes the shade of leaves basking in sunlight._

_She was tall and slim, poised perfectly on a tree root. Naruto was taken aback, then a large black wolf edged though the trees, shoving and pushing himself through the foliage. He was big, and broad. His muzzle large and flatter then most, his eyes dull as usual. Naruto grinned there forms matched their personalities. "so, a new jutsu eh?" he said looking to Chikao, Chikao nodded._

_Naruto glanced at them once more "and how is it supposed to help you?" Chikao grinned "the mother of all forest disguise's, the ability to track and hunt things quietly, to fight without a weapon at all, I am suprised no one has though of it before, wolves are the greatest." Naruto nodded "so how is it done?" Chikao grinned "the usual, chakra, concentration, and hand signs, lots and lots of handsigns" _

_Naruto cocked his head "really?" Chikao laughed "no, I was joking, it's complex see, you know how in usual transformations jutsu's you change your apperence?" Naruto nodded. "well...where not changing just our apperence in these, we actully change our body make-up, or phisiology itself, it's flesh and blood, WOLF flesh and blood, it's real."_

_Naruto stared amazed "I...never thought...this is...this could open up new doors to transformation techniques!" Chikao beamed up at him "I know, are you happy?" Naruto leaped upon him and nipped at him playfully. "of course I am! I am so proud of you, all of you" Chikao grinned "we thought you would be, we did this for you"._

_Naruto glanced at him "what do you mean?" Gin walked forward "it's time you experiance what it trully means to be head of a wolf pack, come...let us run" Naruto nodded "pack...move out" he said happily, and they ran, they ran through the trees, leaping and dodging dead branches and roots. They ran through the snow bounding and leaping over the drifts, as one they moved and ran, as one they fought and chased up pray they scattered._

_Naruto spent the entire day with them, their energy seeming endless, the world seemed only to contain them and only them, there was no missions, no people to escort, no theives to track down, no Chen clan to worry about, there was no village to protect or to guard, it was them and only them. By nightfall they stood side by side watching over the village, seeing it from the tops of the past leaders of the village._

_They stood upon the images of the hokages before them, Naruto closed his eyes, as if by doing so, the leadership and wisdom that they had,that they had gained, would pass to him, give him the guidance, the knoledge and the strength to lead and to be a good leader. He turned to his pack, even if he was only leader of these three, it seemed worth it, his dreams of being Hokage had dimmed, they were still there, but at the moment it seemed like the stars above him._

_He looked to them, his dream was like the stars because they were so far away from touch, yet he knew he knew that in his heart if he believed in one long enough, that star would be his. He closed his eyes as a soft wind blew across his face. He let out a soft contented sigh "I want you three to know, that if I were to die again, I would die happy to have been your, sensei, your father, and most importently...your friend"_

_He turned to thim, they nodded "don't say things like that Naruto-sensei, we will never die and neither will you, we will be pack mates forever" Gin looked to the sky "wow! what are they Naruto?" Naruto looked up it was the light of the north, the cascading rainbow, somehow it had managed to show itself this far south. "It is the great spirit bridge, it conects this world to the spirit world, when a demon dies he follows that bridge into the spirit world, and lives out his afterlife there"_

_He turned to them "you see, we demons don't die, we move on, move on to a place where we are needed more then here" The three of them looked up to the sky "so, right now there is probably some wolf demons, traveling that path right?" Naruto nodded "possibly" Gin smiled "then let us wish them well off, by telling them they are not alone, and that someday, we will join them and run with them together"._

_Naruto let a small tear run down his cheak "yes, lets" he said finally then he leaned his head back and howled, howled like a true wolf, without anycare, the fianl thoughts of being a human, that small part of him that had always held him back form enjoying his life as a wolf to the fullest, disappeared on the night wind and beneath the bright stars._

_Naruto was re-born at that moment, and became the full wolf of the night he was always meant to be, he would always respect the fact he was human, but his humanity was not the deciding factor in his life. He turned and welcomed the new calmness that instilled him, he was at peace. He picked up his howling, they continued far...far into the night._

* * *

The moment they were out of sight of the village, the three of them slipped into their wolf form, to run fast, this saved much time. Plus the three added noses helped the tracking much greater. Two days out though, something unthinkable happened...a blizzard, a large one, the storm of the century. Pounding and hailing winds tore at them, slowing them down to a dead walk, leaning into the intolerable wind, heads down, legs straing against both the wind and snow.

Virtually blinded, and un-able to use other any sense, they followed by their internal guide alone. It was cold, a bitter cold, that even the most thick coat could not keep out. The cold bit and stung at their paws, ears and faces. Gin whined Naruto paused only to lean back and run his head comforting over her shoulders.

They moved until they found saftey, an island in a raging sea of white. It was a small grove of pine trees, their boughs so large they seemed to have grown in mass together, Naruto lead them into the safty of the middle of them. They formed a small alcove of shelter. Naruto and his students greatfully curled up next to each other and rested.

It was awhile before their was a break in the storm. Naruto stared out form under the branches, deciding on weather to risk it or not, he was not an idiot, he knew it was only a lull in the storm, and it would return with a vengence once more, but this lull might be long enough for him to gain on their adversaries, and maybe even accomplish the mission.

Chikao must have known what he was thinking, "I say we go for it, we won't get a better oppertunity" Naruto looked to Gin and Baru, they nodded. Baru swiped snow from his muzzle. Naruto nodded "we will return here if it does start up however"They nodded and continued out, leaping through snow that reached almost to their bellies.

* * *

Hinata was cleaning dishes, something simple and routine, she looked out the window and the snow, she could tell by the cloud that was rolling over the village wall that it was a feirce storm, but due to the wall they were safe form the worst of it. She sighed to herself and picked up a knife, she began to run water over it, when it happened.

Women will tell you that they don't know how they know, they just know, that it's time, no one knows for sure, maybe the deepest center of our brain houses the secret, maybe it is something with our bodies, but either way, we women know when it is time for us to bring life in this world. She gasped, and dropped the knife.

The sudden clatter of silverware had Kiba coming to the kitchen "whats-" was all he could say before he noticed Hinata doubled over clutching her stomech, she didn't have to say a word. Kiba grabbed her coat began dressing her and him, gathering the hospital bag they had packed a few days before and was out the door with her, carrying her, locking the door and shutting off the lights at the same time.

* * *

At the hospital, Hinata was admitted into a room, she was not yet fully dilated so she had time to wait. Kiba sat next to her nervously shuffeling about, wondering what to do, Hinata was doing well with the pain so far, she did her deep breathing calming herself, not wanting to bring more stress into the situation.

Sakura and Ino arrived in bundled coats, "brrrr it's a cold one, how you doing?" Sakura asked "I am more worried about Kiba" Hinata said "I'm fine...it's just I don't know what I am supposed to do" he said scratching his head "just being here is all you need to do, be here next to my side, and never leave it" Hinata said, Kiba grinned and sat down next to her, holding her hand and kissing her on the head "sometimes, you are much stronger then me".

Hinata smiled "what are you talking about I'm always stronger than you" she said smiling then hissed and grimaced as a labor pain racked her body. Kiba suddenly asked "are you allright" Hinata snapped back "no I am not all-right you bloody bastard!" Kiba gulped loudly.

* * *

**Well, this is what I have so far, I hope you enjoyed. I will be typing tommorow so expect another chapie, like I said they will becoming quick.**

**Also to my readers both new and old, I re-did the first chapter so if you want to read it, please do I think it is much better.**

**NSW**


	43. Lost

**Life as A Fox**

**Chapter 43**

**NSW-The Forsaken Author of the Lost Story (see my bio for explanation)**

* * *

They moved in on the camp. About ten figures sat huddled around a single fire. They did not make much noise or move. There was however one sentry. He stared out into the forest, peering directly at Naruto. But he of course didn't see him. Naruto had learned long ago about the art of moving un-seen in plain sight.

If a person doesn't think you are there, he wont see you there unless you give him pausible chance to see you. So Naruto moved slowly, ever so slowly, moving at the time when the wind made snow or the trees moved. He moved in a natural flowing way, as if the storm itself was moving him. Which allowed him to sneak closer and closer to camp.

His students waited patiantly in their normal positions, hidden, waiting for his call. When he was within bounding distance of the sentry did he move. The sentry didn't know what hit him. He was staring out into the woods when suddenly, as if by magic a wolf-no not a wolf _the_ wolf appeared right in front of him.

He didn't even get a chance to release a warning. He died instantly his voice cut away with him along with his ripped throat. He landed in a bloody mass upon the snow. Dying it red, he would be the first to fall upon this snow, but he most certinly would not be the last.

Naruto bounded forward a growl on his lips. He came to a sliding halt "NO ONE MOVE A MUSCLE!" He yelled. They all snapped their heads towards him, surprised at where he came from. "Where the hell did he come from?" Naruto grinned "From the village you so stupidly robbed, now give back the scroll and I will let you keep your lives!"

Then the men parted as another walked in their midst. He was the leader, the one with the long silver hair. "Come now wolf, do you really thing we would come unprepared for you?" he said grinning and waving his hands. All of a sudden three other fires lit up, there was not ten men, but thirty men standing before him.

Naruto stepped back, he should have accessed the situation closer, how could he be so stupid to not look for their back-up? He growled, "The offer still stands! Keep the scroll you die, give the scroll back I will let you walk away." The men laughed, their voices extending into the night. The leader spoke "You dare challenege us? you are but one lowly wolf, granted a demon, but even you are not strong or fast enough to defeat us all."

Naruto nodded "that may be, you may have judged my abilities accuretly, but there is somethign you misjudged completely...I am a wolf, and a funny thing about wolves is...we always run in packs" Then he grinned as Gin's clones in wolf forms came out from the trees, intimidation factors in greatly to a fight. That oen samll second of hesitation of the enemy could change the out come of the battle to your favor.

The men shuffled their feet, it was eerie the way they came from out of the snow and trees, moving like phantoms. The wolf spoke once more "give it up, or die." He said balnkly.

The leader grinned "come now? do you think we would fall for your tricks? at ease men, these are but clones, appirations, one hit and they will go down." Naruto growled as the men began to attack strength renewed into them by their leaders words.

* * *

Naruto swore as they came at him. He backed away as ten chains came hurtling at him. He jumped and ducked and dodged. Barely escaping from them. Luckily Baru and Chikao came in and distracted them. Naruto grinned as they easily together held the men off.

Three men died consecitively from Baru's punches. Naruto grinned and turned to another group he attacked. Leaping and weaving in and out of the enemies. He struck two. The others backed away, Naruto chased after them, how dare they run away?

He followed them until only five or so were left. It was then he realized that he was now cut off from his students, he cursed himself for being so stupid. Then he tried to get back, luckily Baru and Chikao were still holding up against them. They were outnumbered and stood back to back but they still were fighting strong, keeping the men at bay.

Naruto lept at the nearest man trying to break the ling keeping him trapped here. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a man prepare hiself for launching a chain. Naruto turned to intercept, but the man who he had been attacking suddenly grabbed him and caught him, holding him still.

Naruto swore and shook trying to break free. The chain launched, at the last second, Naruto managed to not free himself, but at least turn so that it was the man who held him who received the chain. Naruto felt the man loosen his hold. Naruto grabbed him with his fangs then pulled the man, so that the chain could work it's deadly magic on one the ones who weild it.

The man who had launched the chain was in disbelief as he watched his long time companion and friend fall to the ground, dead by his hands. Naruto felt a small bit of remorse for the man, watching a friend die was a terrible thing. But he shoved it from mind and ran forward "don't worry, you can join your friend in the AFTERLIFE!" he yelled and attacked the man, shredding his throat.

Blood welled up between his lips. His tastebuds exploded in a fury of salvitation and fevor, the tang of blood, so sweet at the moment he was over come by bloodlust. He tore forward and lept to the next man, wanting more and more.

But then something struck him on his side, he grunted as a part of his flank was tore away. Then he heard two screams. He wheeled around, his students were clutching their heads. They were feeling his pain! The link! He had forgotten about the link!

* * *

He raced forward, bloodlust forgotten as he desperatly scrabbled in the snow trying to get to his students before they were hurt or worse. Chikao recovered first and protected the still dazed Baru. Naruto was about to leap in and grab an enemy when a chain blocked his path, he quickly bent his body to it's limit to escape being touched by it.

He landed in the snow he yelped from the pain of his flank. He quickly pushed himself up, he had to fight! He had to protect- Baru screamed in agony as a chain wrapped around his theigh Baru pulled away before Naruto could say anything.

There was a sickening sound of flesh being ripped from bone. Naruto screamed "NOOOOOOOO" He leaped forward and attacked the enemies he saw red, not from bloodlust but just from protective instincts, he would tear himself to peices to get to his pup.

Baru laid in the snow screaming in agony as blood gurgled and wept from the wound. Chikao was in pain as well, he knelt beside his brother, ignoring the enemies. Naruto broke through them and made dozens of clones, they made a protective line between the enemy and them.

A hush desended the field of battle as Naruto knelt by his pup. He looked at the wound, his training told him, that Baru would not make it. But he shook it from his mind no! this was his pup! _his_ Baru! Baru was strong and young, he could survive he could fight it!

But then memories of his own death flashed before his eyes, was he not young? Was he not strong? Did he not have a dream he wanted to see a reality? Did he not have precious people to protect? He had all those things and yet when the time came, he could not will himself to breathe or his heart to beat?

He spoke to Baru, hoping his voice soothed him, helped him. "It's okay, your going to make it, you'll be allright" Baru spoke his body shaking his lips blue, he was pale, oh so pale. The blood dyed the snow beneath him a slushy pink. "I...I'm...sorry sensei, I didn't...didn't move in time...I failed you..." Naruto shook his head "no" he said begging.

"No, you did not fail me...'_it was I who failed you' _he thought to himself. "You did good, you'll pull through just be stong Baru, be strong" Baru looked to him "It's okay sensei, you can let me go, I..I will be fine, remember? We are a pack, we will be together always...thank-you sesei, for everything, but I'm afraid...I'm afraid I won't be running with you anymore."

Then a violent tremor seized him, his body trembled and shook as his heart spasmed trying to gather blood that was not there. Then he made a choking sound, and he was gone, his eyes staring up into the cruel night sky. Pain tore through Naruto, in his heart and mind, as if he had been stabbed deeply.

Chikao must have felt it as well, for he clutched at his chest. Naruto turned. He saw the scroll, just behind the enemies, forgotten, right next to the fire, unguarded and unprotected. He would not have another one of his students taken from him.

He turned to Chikao, "follow me, we are getting out of here!" he whispered harshly, then he, Chikao and his clones charged the enemy, his clones providing ample cover while they slipped inbetween the enemies and grabbed the scroll and ran.

Gin joined him and Chikao. Naruto wanted to turn around, to go back and fight, to get Baru's body, but he couldn't risk it, he could not risk losing another pup. Gin and Chikao ran silently next to him. The storm was picking up ever so slowly around them, snow and wind blowing in stronger and stronger circles. One could say the storm was trying to devour them, consume the three little wolves whom were filled with so much pain, being devoured would actually be welcome at this moment.

* * *

They sat in a huddled circle, beneath the pines. They risked a small fire, who would follow through a blizzard? It gave some warmth and even a little security. Gin shivered and sobbed in her corner, Chikao was silently staring into the flames, his face blank, arms limp. Naruto sat, staring widely at his feet. The scroll strapped securely across his back. He kept going over what happaned.

He grew distraught, how could he let this happen? How could he have been so naive? He shook his head. He wanted to forget everything, but he also wanted to remember everything at the same time. He was in a state ambivalently.

He glanced over to his students, his two remaning precious students. He should comfort them, give them strength, help, make them feel better. But how could he? What could he say to make things better? What could he do to turn everythign around, nothing, absolutely nothing.

Chikao spoke however "What...what are going to do now?" Naruto sighed and glanced out at the storm, "wait, wait for the storm to pass" he said heavily. Gin spoke up "he's in a better place right? No more pain? He's safe right?" Naruto nodded "yes, he is...in a much better place, away from the cold and darkness."

Gin nodded "What is heaven like sensei?" she asked quietly. Naruto gulped he was not good with lying, but at the moment he would have to. Many had always disputed over the fact of weather there was an afterlife or not, if there was a place of goodness, a place of drakness, or if there was just an inbetween place.

Naruto knew that there was an afterlife, he knew that there was something beyound our world. It didn't have to be something the gods created for passed on souls, maybe it was a place where the person was reborn anew, the thing was, nobody really knows, they can only guess, which is what Naruto did.

"Heaven, is hard to describe, I just know it is a place, where, you feel...you feel greatly welcomed and appreciated, and that, it is a place where you feel the most happiness." Gin nodded "that's good, that's good" She said starting to cry.

Chikao reached over and hugged her while she sobbed. He glanced at her "we were happy here too, Baru was appreciated and welcomed here as well, why did he have to die?" Chikao said with some venom. Naruto nodded, understanding his anger.

"That is a question a lot of people ask, there is no right or wrong answer to it." Chikao turned to him "That's not good enough! I know why! It was because of you! You got hurt...and we felt it, we felt your pain! We couldn't think or move after that!"

Naruto roared "DO YOU NOT THINK THAT I DON"T KNOW THAT!" He stood bristling. Then he slowly relaxed after seeing the fear in both their eyes. "I have been beating myself up after what happened, I shouldn't have done a lot of things, and now...now Baru's precious blood, rests on me, it was my fault, I shoudn't...I shouldn't be a sensei" He said looking away.

He looked into the fire, tears falling down his face, "Everyone I get near, everyone I end up loving...always dies or gets hurt" He closed his eyes as he remembered, Jeriyah he died for Naruto, Kakashi, he had to watch his team fall apart, and his students tear at each other.

Sakura, had to watch as the first person she ever loved walked away from her. She had to stand by and let the closest friend of hers, turn into a monster and hurt her. She had to stand and watch by as Naruto gave his life for her. Gaara, died, because he was not fast enough, not strong enough.

Naruto opened his eyes, how many people? How many people's pain was on his shoulders? How many burdens, did he have to bear? Naruto cried, oh did he cry, silently letting his tears roll down his muzzle and dripping off of his nose.

Chikao spoke "Sensei...I'm sorry, I didn't meant to-" "no, it's okay, do not apologize, it hurts, but...it is the truth, because of me Baru is dead." Chikao was silent "no Sensei, we knew what we were getting into beforehand, we still followed you, no matter what, we are a pack, and we will follow you."

Naruto shook his head "do not follow those who do not know how to lead, do not follow fools, a fool...that is what I am" He said downcast. Chikao spoke "very well, that may be, but...you are still our leader, now tell me, how long before the storm lets up? I don't want to stay here trapped forever-"

He was cut off as a chain came flying in from the opening. Naruto's heart stopped momentarily. Then it happened, it felt like it was in slow motion. The slow tearing of the neck, skin ripping in mutilating ways. Blood spraying as the jugular was ripped.

The chain dug deep, a gaping bloody quivering hole was what was left of Chikao's windpipe. He made gruttle animals sounds, as he slowly choked on his own blood. His lungs tried reaching for air, but he could no longer move his throat and jaw, the muscles had been torn away.

His head lulled sideways in a awkward way. Chikao stared out at them, his throat still gurgling. He tried to convey what he felt with his eyes, for he could not speak. Chikao did not get last word, he could only sit there and watch the two people he loved most in this world...he had to watch them, watch _him_ die.

Chikao slowly fell to the ground. His body thudding. He landed next to the fire. The flames began to singe his chestnut brown hair. Naruto was frozen in place for a few seconds. Pain tore through him once more as he lost another pup. He howled and turned towards the opening.

* * *

He would not let all who have died, die for naught. He would get that scroll back, he would kill every last one of them if need be. Did they think they could run and hide from him? From his special eyes? He laughed at the thought, no, it was not their pathetic little fire that game them away, it was that demons chakra, so rich and powerful, his power was what gave them away.

* * *

Naruto saw the other chain, heading straight for Gin, who was screaming as she tried to wipe Chikao's blood from her face. Naruto knocked the chain from it's main course, instead it hit her side. He stepped on it so that it would not be able to be pulled back, he ignored the pain as a thorn went through his pad.

He sent a burst of lightning type chakra through the chain, it disrupted the chakra feed to it, making it shatter into a million pieces. Naruto put himself in front of Gin. "Stay here!" he yelled at her then ran forward, into the blinding storm. He leaped, there was a moment of hesitance, he he floated through a sea of white.

Then a figure emerged from the mist, he landed upon them. Biting and tearing into anything. The man grunted then he grabbed Naruto, using something Naruto had never seen before. Strange gloves, metal and cold biting into his flesh. With sharp fingers, like miniature blades on each one, or the mimicking of animal claws.

Naruto shook and flopped about, trying to free himself from the man's hold. He was hanging in mid-air, being held up by the scruff of his chest. He tried biting and clawing the man but it had no affect. Then a small figure came through the mist and shouldered the man hard.

It sent both Naruto and him sprawling in the snow. Naruto jumped to his paws. He was momentarily confused, he had no idea where he was, she snow and wind, was basically creating a prison of blinding whiteness. Then he heard a grappling in the snow, he felt Gin's fear...then...her pain.

He heard her cry only a few feet away. He came crashing forward, bounding through the snow. The man was holding Gin up, she hung limply in the air, blood running down her side. Naruto felt a frenzy rise in him. He leaped and attacked. THe man dropped Gin in the snow as Naruto flung himself at the man's face.

His fangs reached out and buried themselves in the eye socket of the man, he felt as the eye was ripped cruelly out of the man's socket. Blood and other liquids ran down Naruto's throat as he tore at the man's flesh. The man pushed Naruto off with so much strength Naruto flew through the air, hitting a tree and every branch on the way down.

Naruto thudded into the cold ground, unconscious, his last thought was 'I have to get to Gin' THe man turned and fled the loss of his eye and the pain from it, made him forget about the scroll. He turned and left the two injured Konoha nin in the snow.

Naruto awoke from his unconsciousness with a bolt, he looked about for Gin, pushing himself to his feet staggering forward. The storm had mellowed briefly, he looked forward and saw her still form in the snow.

* * *

It had taken several hours, there was much pain, and screaming, but it was done Inuzaka Hinata had brought life into this world, her first child, a young, healthy daughter, with Hinata's precious eyes and her fathers wild mass of spikes, however the color was that of a very soft light lavender.

The baby slept peacefully in Hinata's arms. Hinata looked to Kiba he smiled down and kissed Hinata and their daughter, Hime. "She is beautiful, like her mother" Hinata smiled "we did it Kiba, we did it" Kiba nodded "Wait until Naruto and his students see, oh Gin is going to be so happy, she made me promise that she would get to hold her when they returned."

Kiba nodded and looked up "well, it's too bad Naruto couldn't have made it, but it's a blizzard, besides he wouldn't have wanted to be in here anyway, you were pretty scary" That earned Kiba a glare, he grinned. "Don't worry, they will return home soon, they are the Wolf pack of Konoha, they will always be there"

Hinata nodded "I know, I know, but I think it's time to rest, we will see Naruto and his team soon I think." Kiba nodded "I know we will, here I will put her to bed." Kiba slowly reached down and cradled his daughter, putting her to bed. He turned towards the window, "you know, I think this moment is the most beautiful in the world" he said glancing to his wife and child.

* * *

He ran to Gin, he felt her still, there was life yet in her. He quickly dragged her to the fire. Restarting it and placing her next to it, he shoved Chikao's body aside, it was disrespectful but, at the time, Naruto's concern was for his still living student. He tore Chikao's cloak from him, wrapping it around Gin, staunching the wound.

He spoke to her and tried to get her to answer, but she was weak and cold, he could see frostbite forming already. He gritted his teeth and slowly maneuvered her onto his back, ting her tightly with the strap of the scroll. He moved forward into the storm, running as fast as his feet would take him, running towards home, running to save his child.

The wind bore down on him and tired him, the snow lay in a layer so thick it went to his chest. He leaped and dug his way through the snow, not caring about the protest form his body, what did he care if he was cold? What did he care if he was exhausted? He would die getting her home if thats what it took, he would sell his own hide if it meant saving her.

He ran and ran, his sense guiding him home. Ice formed on his nose and head, he had to constantly shake it off. His pads slowly cracked, bled, then ripped open to the point he was running on bone and skin. But he still did not give up, he still did not falter, no, he moved on faster, pushed himself harder.

Finally, he had made it, the village lay just a mile away, the trail was easier now, the snow only reaching to his ankles. He neared the gates of Konoha, then he broke through them, not caring if the sound rebounded throughout the entire village and almost gave everyone a heart attack.

He growled and snapped at anyone in his way, he pushed and shouldered through, not caring who they were or what rank they held. He finally made it to the Hospital. He burst through those doors as well.

* * *

She was going through papers when the monster appeared, it came through the doors, almost breaking them off their hinges, big in hulking, it stood, it's eyes glowing and breath ragged. Covered in ice and snow it staggered forward, blood welling from it's paws.

She gasped it was an Ice demon! Here to devour her body and soul. It turned towards her it's eyes, clear blue and emanating in fury and pain. She froze then she felt her world go black. She knew it searching for her but why? Why would an Ice demon need a nurse?

Luckily another nurse came out at that time and rushed to the demon who was screaming for a nurse. He was not going to attack them or kill them, he wanted to help the crumpled form of a girl upon his back. Anyone with a brain could see that his poor creature had ran himself ragged trying to get here.

The doctor and nurses ran from everywhere, trying to save the child, the demon would let no one touch him. Yet no matter how many doctors tried as they could. No matter how much they spoke to the girl, telling her to hold on, that she was safe, that she could make it, she did not, in her last moments she had turned to the wolf, looked him in the eyes, then smiled.

It was strange to see a face, like that, smile so peacefully as blood dribbled form her mouth. She had spoken so softly and said "Don't worry, sensei, and don't be sad, I... I told you I would die happy, I met you and got the chance to know you, now...I must go, my brothers are waiting for me."

Then she went still, her eyes closed slowly, she died, peacefully like an angel, so white and pure against the floor of the hospital, while her blood stained the hands of all who had tried to save her. Then a terrible thing happened next. Everyone in that room would only describe it as...true, loss, of a creature who had lost the only thing in his life that mattered most. THen they heard the cry of a wolf, as he realized that he would have to walk upon this frozen planet, alone and lost for life.

* * *

**I do not take pride in what I have written, it gives me no pleasure, but I do know that this was something that needed to happen, and that, for those of you who do not understand...Just read the words of many authors before our time.**

* * *

**'Theirs not to make reply,  
Theirs not to reason why,  
Theirs but to do & die,  
Into the valley of Death  
Rode the six hundred.'**

* * *

**And you, my father, there on the sad height,**  
**Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.**  
**Do not go gentle into that good night.**  
**Rage, rage against the dying of the light.**

* * *

**Perhaps they are not stars,  
but rather openings in heaven  
where the love of our lost ones pours through  
and shines down upon us  
to let us know they are happy.  
****-Eskimo Proverb**

* * *

**That is all I have to say on this matter.**

**NSW**


	44. Author Note

**Life As A Fox**

**Author's note**

**NSW**

* * *

Well, after receiving many reveiws, I find myself dis-heartened, apparently killing of the three OC's which I planned to do from the beginning, was a bit 'Harsh' on some of you, and especially Naruto. But I will not apologize for doing so, because this also makes me happy, I managed to get you all to fall in love with three people and view them as important and needed, you reactions were something I knew would happen.

I want to say, that even I, the AUTHOR wanted to back out, and wanted to leave Gin alive. But after calling my beta and best friend he told me, 'you have to do this, you cannot back out, you have to be strong for the readers, you have to do this before moving onto the next part'. So I obeyed his commands and I did it, I painstakingly wrote every word down, described every scene in brutal detail, making sure, that you experienced this pain.

I know I am a terrible person for doing this, but like I said it had to be done, to move on to the next chapter in Naruto's life, which is, dealing with unimaginable grief, these next chapters will be hard to read, you will question weather or not if I could ever make a happy ending out of this, I warned you in a few chapters Prior, that you would hate me for chapters to come, now is the time for hate.

But if you are true Naruto fan's if you are true believer, you will stick through this pain, this agony, you will fight through, and not give up, this story was meant to test you and push you, anyone who gives up on a Naruto story just because a few people die...that's insane, that's like quitting reading Naruto just because Itachi died...twice.

So like I said I won't apologize for doing what I did, it was necessarily, if you can't seem to understand it, fine, go read a story where everything is fine and dandy and right as rain, with no possibility of anything bad happening, go, I won't blame you. But if you want to grit your teeth and go on a journey that will take you through emotions you have never felt in a fanfic, if you want to emerge form this fanfic enlightened then bear through it, and stick with me, I promise you, there is a bright ending to this, a very happy one, a ending where you will cry out from sheer happiness.

So please stick with me and believe in me, I ask you not because I want you to, but because I need you to, I am trying to show you something, so please take my hand, and follow me.

* * *

**NSW**


	45. The Lonely Wolf

**Life As A Fox**

**Chapter 44**

**NSW**

* * *

**Ha. Well, like I said, I knew my actions in the last chapter would be a very controversial subject, but I never imagined some would feel so strongly against it. But, like I also said before, I will not apologize for it. So yes, call me a brat, or a drama queen, call me heartless and cruel, it doesn't matter - I still will not lower my standards.**

**That being said, it doesn't matter how long you've been on . It doesn't matter how many stories you have written or what you do in real life, none of this automatically makes your opinion worth more than any of the others here. But apparently some of you think you can speak on behalf of the entire audience. You don't, the last couple comments have shown me that. So, if you think for one second that a couple long-winded rants about how authors _should_ write will 'scare' me into compliance you, sir or madam, are mistaken. For I will do no such thing. I will continue to write how I always have - which seems to be what the majority of reviewers prefer.**

**I will continue to bring both pain and happiness to Naruto. (But no pain to come will be as bad as this, though. Of that - you have my word as an author.)**

**So yes, you can analyze all you want how I 'could' have made this work without their deaths. How I could have 'saved' them, the OCs whose original creation, I digress, was to cause pain. You got me, but to sit on your high throne and berate me for doing something different...something not normally done... **

**I laugh, because now, I move on, knowing that I am a writer of my own will - a writer who does not fit inside the normal standards.**

** Just because I write differently does not mean I am a bad writer, or a terrible person. Did I not say that I too felt pain writing their deaths? Did I not say that I cried as well? Or maybe you didn't read that part? That's fine, you tend to skip things when you are upset. **

**I will take crap for killing off people, and - for those of you who felt so, my Author's Note was not meant as a 'slap to your face'. I was simply stating the facts, (This too should not be considered a slap to your face, but instead a wake-up call, a reality check. Sometimes bad things happen, but you can either fight the inevitable, or get back up and continue. it's your choice, not mine, I chose to get back up and continue to write.)**

**Now with that said, I want all of you to know, that I do deeply care for you - really I do. You have been very supportive and ****continue to help make this story come to life. I care about each and every one of you - even the ones who declared war against me, I still care for you. Those who abandoned the story, I am greatly saddened, but it remains your choice to do so. I will continue to move on.**

**Last thought, everything I did and will continue to do, is for the sake of the story and is my decision alone. The very sad truth of the matter is that the next part of Naruto's life couldn't happen without the deaths of his students - which were not only necessary but also essential.**

**But, if need be, you can go off and grieve in your own way for a bit. ****Take a breather, grab some hot cocoa and pocky - sit down and read something full of fluff and goodness. I will not hold it against you - in fact: I encourage it. I will continue to write and you can come back on your own time. :D**

**Now, without further ado, the next chapter...**

* * *

Hinata held young Hime in her arms. She beamed down at her young daughter, chuckling softly to herself as the little 'Princess' squirmed about. Hinata thought randomly that it reminded her of watching a newborn puppy scrambling about, indulging in the warmth of the mother. Quietly Sakura entered the room, her face downcast.

Hinata looked up to her "What's the matter?" she asked, catching sight of Sakura's face. Sakura gave a heavy sigh. "Something, bad has happened." Sakura said simply. Hinata froze "No, it can't be...not Naruto..." Sakura shook her head "No, it wasn't him. It was them." she said, not elaborating. There was no need to, Hinata knew exactly who she meant.

Hinata began to cry as she mourned for the three young children who had brought so much enjoyment and laughter in her life. She could not imagine how Naruto had to be feeling, she wished she could go comfort him, but she was still recovering after the birth. "How is he?" Hinata asked Sakura looked away, "Thats the thing, I am scared, I am really scared Hinata."

Hinata gently placed Hime in the bed side cradle then turned to Sakura, Sakura ran to her arms and embraced in them. Sakura cried "I have never...never seen anyone like this, it's sad just to look at him, it hurts to go near him, what he did...what he did to his body, trying to get her home in time, to try and save her..."

Hinata and Sakura wept over the loss of the three children who will always be remembered and adored in their hearts and minds. Hinata cried for both of them and for Naruto as well, knowing this unimaginable blow came, too soon, and too quick. He had just finally gotten used to the idea of being a sensei and a father, and now his children were taken away from him. Hinata could only imagine what she would have felt like if her little Hime was taken.

* * *

Mammoth stared at the three faces looking at him from the three death forms. He had to sign these, it was required. Yet he could scarcly bring himself to mark the box 'deceased' next to the face of a girl who was only 13. The same went for the two boys, this was a terrible blow - they all knew how much Fluffy had cared for them, how he had treated them like his own. Mammoth himself cried when he had heard of their deaths. He had only known them for a short while but those fresh innocent faces would always be there in the back of his mind.

Mammoth sighed. He shook himself, he had to do this, he had to be strong and be the Anbu general he was. He squared his shoulders, picked up his pen, then marked what needed and signed where he had to then he put them silently in their required folders, sent for Mouse and was done.

* * *

Kiba, Shikamaru, Neji and Lee, sat hunched in a corner with each other in the hospital waiting room. They stared at the floor, or at their hands - not speaking. They didn't have to speak they all knew how much it hurt, each was coming to his own terms with it. Neji finally spoke "Ten-ten and I, we were going to ask Gin to be the flower girl in the wedding."

The three other men glanced to Neji, it was first time hearing news of this. "Oh." Kiba said "...congratulations. That's great news." he added softly, knowing it was the proper thing to do. "It dosen't feel like it." Neji said. "The happiness seems to pale after seeing...that." Kiba nodded knowing full well what he meant: Naruto.

They had went to see him, wanting to know how he was doing, Sakura went with them. He was in intensive care, mostly under heavy sedation, the reason was said for the pain, but it wasn't. It was to keep him under control, keep him from going mad with agony and attacking people, like he had done before...

* * *

_A feral growl tore through his throat, as his fangs lashed out grabbing hold of a nurse's arm, she screamed as he tore away her skin. They had managed to get him to release. He snapped and hissed, growled and howled, attacking anything that got near him, his eyes wild with pain, sadness and a burning hatred._

_He tore open his side wound countless times, not caring at the toll it took on his body. He staggered to stand and fight but found his feet would no longer do his biding; he had worn them to shreds and they had not the strength to do so._

_When he did speak he screamed and yelled for Gin, asking-no demanding where she was. no one had yet to tell him, for fear of what this creature might do. Other times he yelled for Baru and Chikao, but those where when he had fevered visions._

_So after a while they began to place him on constant sedation, at least until his body healed - maybe then his mind would work better if it was not under the constant strain of pain from his body._

_But before they had done this there was an incident when they had tried to change bandages, Sakura was one of the attending, usually the straps keeping his body still were strong and held him. But for some reason one had snapped, allowing his head to roll free. Without warning he had grabbed Sakura by the wrist and tore at her like a rabid dog shaking with all his might._

_Sakura escaped, and she had to go to Tsunade and three other prominent healers to fix the damage done before Lee or any of the others could see the damage that had been done._

* * *

Kiba, Neji, Shikamaru, and Lee had entered the room, there Naruto lay on his good side, tubes running out of his mouth and nose, wire attatched to various places on his body constantly monitoring him. He was strapped down tight in case the medication wore off. Which it did on occation and left Naruto staring out with foggy sorrow filled eyes.

Kiba and the others spoke to him, hoping their voices and words could calm the tornado of torment inside of him, but their words fell on deaf ears. Naruto had escaped deep inside his mind, to a place far from the real world. This was a place of darkness and pain, consuming and containing him here, trapping him with in it's painful walls.

He stood in a bleak white landscape no outline of anything for miles and miles, it streched on endlessly, all that blew was snow and ice. He was alone, forsaken and forgotten. He look down and their bodies lay at his feet, bloodied and mangled, death would not grant them peace or beauty. He howled and howled until his voice was raw, and yet his heart still keened long after.

His tears flowed never ceasing. Slumping he fell to the ground, his cries calling out for someone to grant him mercy and end his life, so that he would not suffer, he begged and pleaded, bargained hoping that the gods who had cursed him, and who shunned him would favor him this once, and grant him the peace of death, to ease his suffering.

But none could hear or did not wish to help, so he grew angry and cursed the gods even more. Then he moved back to himself cursing and berating himself, questioning his abilities, How could he let them die? Why was he not strong enough? These questions re-played over and over in his mind along with the images of that night.

The agony streched on for eternities, He forgot all semblance of time, forgot all that was in the real world, the friends he still had, the people who adored him in the village, all of them lay like sun-bleached bones in the sun, used and forgotten, to be thrown away or kicked to the side, their usefullness run dry.

He soon turned his anger onto not only himself, but also the world. He cursed it for letting people like the Chen clan exist, for letting kids like his follow him so foolishly and blindly; but his anger would soon be forgotten, and the blame and guilt would always revolve around him.

Who knows how much time had passed before he drifted away from his dark place back to the real world. At first he would admit, the physical pain was gone, or at least it was numbed to the point of being gone. He drifted his eyes lazily around the room. There was a familiar figure, at first he couldn't place a name, but he knew the pink hair was important. Then the name finally drew upon him, Sakura.

He made no move to speak to her, she had seen him see her, but he did not try to capture her attention, he only noticed then ignored. He glanced about him, several plants graced the windowsill, telling him he had been here awhile. The outside world was dripping, as snow melted. He snapped his head up only to find it secured to the table.

He growled and fought the bonds, he would not be tied down, helpless - like before! He heaved and shook, but his strength and deteriorated much. But still he fought like a wild animal at those bonds. Sakura was talking to him, in soothing tones, but he ignored her words, he would not be spoken to like a child! He snapped at her, why would they tie him down? He only wished to look outside the window, see for himself how much time had passed.

Strength finally left him, he lay exhausted, Sakura waited for him "Naruto." he heard her say, he finally paid attention. "Naruto." she said softer, he glared at her in annoyance, "Do you know where you are?" she asked. He snapped in anger, then spoke his voice ragged "Hospital...how long?" he asked suddenly, fearing the answer.

She spoke: "Two months." He moaned, "Why...am I..tied?" Sakura looked away, then back. "To protect you..." Naruto smirked and shook his head "No, to protect yourselves. You fear me...you fear the wolf, that is good, you should fear me...I only bring pain...and sorrow to those near me. You should have abandoned me, left me to die in the streets, out in the cold...like them."

Sakura was quiet she had placed a hand over her mouth to silence the sobs "Please..don't speak like that-" "IT'S THE TRUTH"! he roared at her. She gasped backing away like a child that had been reprimanded. "They died because of me, because I had led them, because they called me father. I am cursed...anyone who cares for me, gives me joy or comfort in my life...the gods will punish, because they detest me."

Sakura shook her head, crying "No Naruto no, you are not. Please, please speak, tell me what happened, then we can help you get over this-" "GET OVER IT?" he roared once more straining against the bonds. "Get over watching as one by one, your children fall before you in painful bloody masses? Baru, his leg ripped open...Chikao, his neck tore away from him...and Gin...poor innocent Gin... succumbing to her wounds because I was not fast or strong enough to save her."

He panted ragged, "One...does not simply get over this! nor will I ever! and neither you nor anyone else could ever understand how I feel! I did not loose a simple close friend! I lost all! ALL OF MY CHILDREN, ALL OF THE ONES WHO I CALLED MY OWN!" he howled in anger, screaming in rage. Sakura backed away quickly overcome by the aura he sent out, a self loathing all consuming aura of hatred.

* * *

Sakura fled the room, she clasped a hand to her mouth and leaned agianst the wall, sobbing, her body shaking in fear. She slowly sunk to the floor, not knowning of what to do, how to react, all she knew was that she was terrified of Naruto, he spoke like a person who had nothing to live for and did not care who he hurt.

The next days wore weary on everyone at the hospital, anyone who entered the room, was overcome by his aura, of perptural grief and consuming anger, he barked, growled, snapped and roared at everyone who came near. His wounds were mostly healed, the physical ones anyway, but until they could calm his emotinal ones they would not be able to move him to rehabilitation.

He ignored food and drink, refusing to take neither. Day by day he became skinnier and more weak, but his hatred and pain kept his rages strong. Sakura had tried everything, she tried talking to him slowly, she tried yelling back at him in equal measure, maybe if she had put up a fight he would back down, that only ended in utter chaos as he broke a few straps trying to get to her.

After almost a week of this constant abuse and strain people spoke amongst each other saying he had lost it, that he was to far gone. They had seen it happen several times before, when a ninja is the only survivor of a terrible mission, they go crazy with guilt and sorrow, condemning themselves in their minds that they did not deserve kindness or to live.

Sakura would not think or speak of such things, she knew the Naruto she knew and loved was in there, just waiting to be found, he just had to come to terms with the deaths, somehow have closure. So today she tried a new approach "Naruto, do you want to see their graves?" Naruto was surprised she had came out so forward.

It didn't give him time to think of anything bitter to say to her. He was silent "What is the point? I know they are dead." Sakura spoke "It might be...nice, to finally work your body, get it up and moving again, go outside to the fresh air? I am sure they would want it..." A low growl formed from his throat she silenced herself, he always began to growl if you spoke in ways that he did not approve of.

Naruto glared at her growling for a few moments then turned back to the window, something he was always looking out. "They would want a lot of things" he said finally, dejected, as if giving up for now. "A lot of things they will never experience because of me." Sakura sighed it was worth a try.

* * *

Hinata listened to Sakura while giving a toy to Hime, she giggled and cooed like a baby does and played with the rattle, Hinata sighed finall. "This...I knew this would be hard, we all did, but who could imagine?" Sakura nodded "If we don't change something soon, we will have to order a wolf-size coffin." Sakura stated simply "What?!" Hinata exclaimed stunned, how Sakura had said something so horrific so casually.

Sakura looked to Hinata "He won't eat, he won't let anyone get near him to give him anything. He just lies strapped to the bed, he allows for pain medication but that is all, it's like he just wants it to end...I fear he is trying to kill himself." Hinata began to cry - she could never imagine Naruto ever contemplating or even trying to do something to terrible.

Kiba came in and rushed to her "What did you say?" Kiba asked Sakura "Naruto is trying to kill himself, there is nothing we can say or do, you might want to say good-bye to him while you still have the chance. However, the creature in that room...is not Naruto."

"Not the Naruto we knew."

* * *

**So, well this is what I have so far, so I hope you enjoyed, and thank-you for the support once more. **

**NSW**


	46. Pain of the Soul

**Life As A Fox**

**Chapter 45**

**NSW-The Forsaken Author of the Lost Story (see my bio for explanation)**

* * *

"Are you sure about this?" Kiba asked, Hinata nodded. "you have no need to worry Kiba, his bonds are tight, and he is weak, if he is enraged, he will not cause bodily harm" Kiba looked to Sakura quizickly "bodily harm?" Sakura nodded "he cannot grant physical damage, but his words can be as sharp and as feirce as his fangs upon flesh."

Sakura glanced to Sakura who held Hime "be careful, and mind what you say" "hold it" a voice rang out, they turned to see Mammoth accompanied by a demon badger. Mammoth strode towards them "forgive the intrusion, but we wish to access Fluffy as well, I have heard stories of his...recovery, and I wish to see for myself, of weather they are true."

Sakura nodded "very well" then let all of them. The room was darkly lit, Mammoth stepped forward, a growl filled the room. Eminating form somewhere in the darkness. Sakura spoke "you must not step forward so brashly, he takes offense" Mammoth galnced to her "what?...offense how?" Sakura spoke "you move like a warrior does...closing in on his pups."

Mammoth nodded, understanding her meaning. "can we not get some light?" Sakura nodded and moved towards the draped windows, removing them slowly. The light danced across the floor until it reached the foot of a bed, where a wolf demon lay. Fur ragged and dull, bones jutting from beneath loose skin. But eyes that burned with intensity of many suns.

Mammoth spoke "wolf heart..." two ears flicked forward, as the eyes turned slowly towards him "...Mammoth" he said in a raspy voice. Hinata stepped forward as well, for a moment those eyes flicked away for him and settled on her, they softened only slightly. "you...had a child" he said in the same manner Hinata nodded "Hime" she said softly, "a girl..." Naruto said.

He cast his eyes downward thinking, "Gin..was once a child such as that, young...full of potential, and full of life..." he broke away from his train of thought, and went silent. Gomeg stepped forward studying him "this...this can't be...it's not possible...I thought...no...it's unheard of...not with humans."

They all looked to him "what? what are you talking about?" Gomeg turned to Mammoth "the teenagers...did they go under any sort of transformation? did they change after Fluffy became their sensei?" Mammoth nodded "WHY DID YOU NOT TELL ME THIS?" Mammoth was shocked at the badgers out burst. "I..did not think it important, I thought they were only following his orders and training."

Gomeg cursed in demon, "you are mistaken, what had happened was not just kids acting like beasts...it was the act of soul lines" Hinata gazed to him "soul lines?" Gomeg nodded "certian pack demons, and herd demons will create bonds with each other, much like a bond between life mates, only weaker." Gomeg sighed "what happens is, herd demons or pack demons use this bond to help the pack or herd survive, to be able to speak to one another silently, to be able to know where another is, to know when one is needed, these are all things soul lines do".

Gomeg continued on "however, the thing of soul lines is, they must be constantly formed with each new addition to the pack, because if not, and a demon loses all of his soul lines..." Gomeg grew silent. Turning his head away "what...what happens?" Gomeg spoke "I have only seen it happen once, when I was a child under going my fathers instruction."

* * *

_Young Gomeg sat upon his haunches before his father who towered over him, Gomeg traced small swirles in the ground before him as his father told him yet another story of some demon of old who did something important that would be a life lesson for him. Gomeg pretended to listen but was caught up in his own fantasies of using his powers to fight and be a great warrior._

_His father waved his paws about, his large claws gleaming in the sun 'never used to take life...always used to save life' Gomeg thought remembering the words his father always said when he spoke about his claws. His father was just about to finish the story when a crashing noise came from the bush, his father without missing a beat turned his blind eyes to Loketi, the great demon stag._

_Gomeg would like to know how is father saw when he was blind, and how he himself would see the world when he too abandoned his normal sight for the abilities of a seer and healer. "Garabi!" Loketi yelled in his deep bleating voice, he was a powerful and tall stag, the deer demons where larger then their normal animal counter parts, they stood at least two to three heads taller, and where much more wider._

_Loketi tossed his head about, his prongs gleaming in the sun. Gomeg gazed at them, even Loketi's antlers have slayed many a competitor to his mates. "what is it Loketi?" Garabi replied "it is Imura...something terrible has happened...humans..." Garabi yipped "HUMANS!? humans have never came near this forest, it has stood for a thousand years as the only place where we demons can live and thrive...it is our forest!" _

_Loketi nodded his head "that may be, but a small herd of them appeared at the edge not to long ago, they have built a settlement...and have been growing" Garabi muttered to himself "why is it, I am the only one who hears of things last" Loketi flared his nostrils "it does not matter, we need to go to Imura now!" he said stomping his hooves._

_Garabi nodded "very well, what has happened?" Loketi permitted Garabi upon his back. "I will explain as we go!" then Loketi bounded off, springing in the graceful panicked flight that deer posses. Gomeg raced after them, he wished to see, wished to help. Gomeg raced as fast as his little paws could carry him. Following after the bounding hooves of Loketi._

_Finally they arrived at the place where Imura and his herd rested during the day, a small meadowed clearing. Perfect for them, a hill jutted out for Imura to stand on and watch over his heard, and the grass was tall enough to conceal the young foals and fillies he sired. But the meadow was not as Gomeg had veiwed it before, instead it was a battle field, a battle field where horses lay the slautered enemies._

_Gomeg breath caught in his throat, all around him young mares lay, their bodies folded around their young colt or filly protecting them to their very last breath. Garabi closed his eyes "tell me Loketi, does not even one survive?" Loketi nodded "his first mare, the mare he has always kept by his side, she lives...yet" Garabi nodded "I must save that mare if I wish to save him."_

_Gomeg glanced up not understanding, "what happened"? Loketi looked down noticing him for the first time "humans came, wishing to tame wild 'horses' what they found was demons, so of course they followed their ways and slaughtered every one of them without mercy, even the fleeing colts and fillies." Gomeg began to cry, some of them where his friends, he would play with them from time to time, when his studies permitted._

_Loketi sighed "Imura came in, with a frenzy and hatred and killed a few of them as well, then they fled their fear stench overwhelms my eager nostrils." Loketi said happily. "come there is not much time" Garabi said and they pressed forward weaving in and out of the bodies until the came to where a silver mare still breathed...but not for long. _

_A single cut ran from her shoulder, across her ribs and to her stomach, she whinnied softly to Garabi, he fell down next to her and began to work quickly. He took his power and the power that Loketi borrowed to him and began to heal the wound, but the wound was deep and closed slowly. Gomeg looked about, suddenly a figure that struck fear into his heart appeared from the trees._

_Coal black he stood a dominating figure, muscles tensed and gleaming in the sun, his eyes burned with a hatred, he tossed his head madly about, pounding the earth with his hooves tossing the earth about like a child god. He screamed in agony as he tore through the grass to them. He paused suddenly screaming at them "HELP HER" he said, voice tearing through the air._

_Garabi nodded "I am doing what I can" he said, sweat upon his brow. The wound by now was only half closed, and blood was still raining down the other half, the mare, Shirsen nickered to Imura. Comforting him, Imura put his massive head down and cradled it next to hers, her eyes closed half lidded taking comfort from him. The mare finally spoke "my child comes...I would have it saved and not me." _

_Imura rose up on his back legs he roared in defiance "NO! I WILL HAVE ONLY YOU, NOT THE CHILD" Shirsen nickered, "the decision is mine, the child will breath life, and I will not, already I have sent my energies to the child, heed me my love, form the bond you have with the child, there is yet time to save yourself from the pain of being empty."_

_Imura landed shaking the earth "NO! I WILL NOT BE EMPTY, FOR YOUR FLANK WILL BE NEXT TO MINE, AS IT ALWAYS HAS" Shirsen sighed "Garabi, you are a healer you listen to the patiant not the over worried lover, I wish this, do as I ask...please, I would see my last foal into this world as I prepare to go to the next." Garabi nodded understanding, he moved to help pulling out the young foal from her torn belly._

_She moved her head to only see the child, a dapple gray beauty. She smiled "he will grow to be as strong as his father but hopefully he will have my patiance...my young Imasen" The colt whinied softly begging for his mothers milk. But his mother only nickered softly in reply then lay her head down then, she slowly closed her eyes and her spirit faded, bringing her peace._

_Imura roared as his last bond had been severed, he went mad with agony and pain, as he felt the herd that had once numbered many now lay to none. He was their protector and their leader, and he had failed them. Garabi pushed Gomeg out of the way before Imura's hooves could land upon him. Imura went mad he raced about the field calling to his dead herd, begging them to stand with him once more._

_Loketi helped steer the young Imasen towards the trees, he would need milk, and Loketi knew a few of his does would have to share theirs with Imasen. Garabi put a hand on Gomeg's shoulder, "I know you secretly wish to be a fighter like most demons are taught, but you have the gift, I know you do" Gomeg looked to his father "what of Imura?" Garabi looked up "he has condemed himself for acting so brashly and not forming the line when he had the chance...and so he shall suffer the fate."  
_

_Gomeg looked to Imura who know stood shaking, his flanks already covered in sweat. "what fate?" Garabi sighed "the fate of having your soul, slowly bleed out, with so many wounds...he will not survive." Gomeg was confused by this "but he does not bleed, he is fine" Garabi brought his son closer "he bleeds on the inside, heart, mind, and soul bleeds in pain, this will cause him to die, not from wounds, but from pain...that is what is happening."_

_Garabi turned to leave "what shall we do?" Gomeg asked "there is nothing, we must only make sure no one come near him, he will strike them, his vision is now clouded he see's only enemies with it, enemies that would take his dead kin away, enemies that would doubt him as a leader, who would call him failure." Gomeg nodded he did not like it, but his father knew about these kinds of things._

_So everyday Gomeg watched the one proud Imura slowly deteriote before his eyes, sweat caked his once proud flanks, blood began to weep from his over used hooves. He slowly began to slow, his head growing heavy, but he did not lower it to eat, or drink, or even sleep. Instead he kept on wailing and mourning for his herd. Days passed and soon, he barely could move, he lay on the ground, panting._

_Gomeg had thought that that was how he was going to die, on the ground next to the bloated and leaking bodies of his kin, but he did not. One night he rose, agedly then he made the long journey to the top of the hill he would stand on, the moon lite his path as Imura the great stallion of the East meadow herd, rose up on his back hooves one last time, his fore hooves pumping and beating the air as if it were an enemy, and while doing so gave one last triumphant call._

_Then his body fell forward and rolled down the hill. There was a silence that took Gomeg's breath away, he felt a shiver then his breath was let out as slowly one by one, pale luminescent figures rose form the bodies of the herd, it was the spirits of the herd, they had waited patiently for their leader to die, so that his spirit which now rose from his body shaking his head could lead them to the afterlife._

_They gathered around him and he nodded to each in turn, reuniting with them, Shirsen walked up to his side, the caressed each other, then with a whinny and a small rear, he bounded off, collecting his herd members, they ran after him. He then circled and they turned upwards, running up an invisible hill, past the tree line and following this unknown path into the stars._

_Gomeg cried at this, he felt both sad and happy for the herd he knew that now they would forever run in the afterlife, with their great coal black stallion at the lead. He felt a sudden paw on his shoulder "see, I told you, you have the gift, no warrior would have seen the beauty that had just been revealed to you." Gomeg then nodded understanding, he may not be a warrior and take lives with his claws, but he could be the one instead that brought back life to those who needed it._

* * *

Gomeg smiled softly at the childhood memory, "It is in itself a great and terrible beauty" Mammoth glanced to him then to Fluffy "how is this beautiful? he looks half dead-" A growl erupted at the mention of death. Mammoth decided that he would refrain from speaking for the time being. Gomeg sighed "only three lines were broken...there may be a chance."

Gomeg stepped forward "Fluffy" he said Fluffy looked down to him "what do you want?" he spat "only to help" Gomeg said reaching out to him "there is no-" He was cut off as Gomeg touched him, and pulled himself into Fluffy's mind.

At first Gomeg was confused as he swam through the memory bank, he saw images and pictures flash around him, a child, human with blonde hair and blue eyes, whisker marks upon his cheeks. He was alone and sad, but always remained happy and smiling. He grew into a young man, who had heavy burdens a best friend who betrayed him, a creature powerful and hard to control inside him.

Gomeg soon saw the boys life ended, and Fluffy's body in his place, 'so this child became a demon...the work of the goddess indeed' Gomeg soon had went though all the memories, the horrifying deaths of his students. Brutal and bloody, what would give most people nightmares. Gomeg shuddered as he entered Naruto's (for that was his name) private lair of grief.

He sat hunched over, inside what seemed to be an empty dungeon, it's floor however was replaced with ice. Gomeg padded over to him, Gomeg saw that three chains lay at his feet, what was once his soul lines lay cast off, lying on the cold floor. Naruto looked to him "what do I do...I long for death but also fear it as well."

Gomeg nodded "you have sense, you know that if death where granted, you would instead have to live an eternity wandering upon this earth, and no hope of getting closure or receiving forgiveness" Naruto laughed sadly "am I worthy of such, maybe that punishment would be fitting for me." Gomeg shook his head "no, it is not, no one deserved that punishment"

Naruto snapped his anger sudden "and no one deserves that kind of death!" he roared. Fur bristling. Gomeg nodded "true, the students died and horrible death, one you should have not witnessed nor any other, but the fact remains it happened, now what are you going to do about it? sit here and wallow in self pity, longing and fearing your punishment like a whipped dog?"

Naruto was silent "no, you instead should be doing different, find your reason for drawing breath, you had one before with no pack to call your own! you are different Naruto, you are a demon who can choose weather he wants to die or not, most who loose all their soul lines would be driven mad with the pain, yet you maintain some of your sanity! which means there is hope!"

Naruto scoffed "what hope is that? how could I show my face? I the failure? I the always failure, proclaiming I can protect when instead I let those under my care fall so brutally" Gomeg nodded "aye they fell brutally, but you forget they fall so that others may rise, so that others without the means did not have to fall, they where warriors, fighters, their duty and honor was to battle, just as your is."

Naruto studied him "but why is it that they young fell, while I did not?" Gomeg gritted his teeth "because the goddess wills you to live" Naruto snorted "the goddess may, but I am sure my students would beg otherwise, they would probably prefer to breath then I, they had the potential to go far, yet the fell like quivering leaves before those bloody Chen clan."

Gomeg took Naruto's head in his paws "they fell so that the Chen clan could follow them, the Chen clan is a backed up beast, waiting for slaughter, their numbers taken, their hope of knowing us and over-powering us taken as well, and when a person is backed into a corner with no hope, he most reassuringly falls."

Naruto looked to him "yes, or he rises like a god out of the mist and becomes stronger then any other" Gomeg shook his head "not if he is matched by person of likeness, are you not pushed into a corner? your students taken from you? do you wish for that to happen to everyone of Konoha? you are not the only sensei to loose the lives of his children, you are not the only father to feel the pain of losing a child, many have lost that and more, yet they stand strong and tall willing to face their enemy."

Naruto growled "that is all it will ever be, a cycle of hatred, if one man slays another man's brother a person will rise to slay his own brother, and soon in turn there is a war gripping the land!" Naruto looked away "revenge is never the answer" Gomeg nodded "it is not, however is proves to give many the right kind of insentive to breath"

Naruto glanced to him "you want me to live so that I may kill? how would that service my students memory" Gomeg grinned "it wasn't, it was only to get you to think of them as not lost, nor taken, but leaving you of their own will, you wish to honor their memory? tell me if your student's looked upon you now? what would they think and say? to see their great wise sensei who had always said that the greatest thing you can do in life is not give up...give up?"

Naruto looked away "they would be ashamed" Gomeg nodded "a grieving father is pardoned a great many things, but a fool is not one, do not be a fool and think that your pain is equal to no others, your pain hurts but I have seen others go through worse. What you need to know is that your students wish for you to be strong, fight through this...like the wolf you are."

Gomeg turned "your students may be gone, but your pack is not" he said finally Naruto looked to him "your students will be with you right here" Gomeg said pointing to his heart "if you wish to save them like you couldn't before, live their life for them, carry them with you and let them experience the world, just as you promised them, and protect and serve those who call you precious to them."

Gomeg looked to Naruto "it will be hard, there will be times when you will slip back to self doubt, but confide in those who care for you and are here, they will help you through this." Naruto looked into Gomeg's eyes "your eyes, I see now...they see things that normal eyes cannot pick up, they see a person's soul not their body."

Gomeg grinned "for a young one, you learn much" "now come, a women who cares for you wishes you to meet her child" Naruto sighed "how can I go back to them, after all I did?" Gomeg placed a hand on his shoulder "like I said, many things can be forgiven to a father grieving his children." Naruto turned to him "I can't promise that I will be happy, my heart still hurts, but I will try."

Gomeg nodded "that is all I ask of you, Naruto" Naruto looked to him "wait...my name?" Gomeg nodded "just noticed I see? yes, I know your past, you are a great gift and holder of much interest and questions, but I will not ask of them until you are fully ready." Naruto nodded "thank-you Gomeg" Gomeg only nodded and grinned.

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed, you see I did not plan for Naruto to get over his students death quickly, it will be a long process still, but this is a starting point. Although it seems like he has gotten over the deaths, he has not, it won't be for awhile, I threw in the Gomeg flash-back only because in a rough draft of this chapter I wrote last year it was in there, the flash back is the only thing I have mostly kept, everything else has been changed.**

**I do not wish to spur on further anger from my fans, but I want to be truthful to you as well, people have told me to put up warnings and although I am considering the fact, I do not like the idea, I prefer my ways but to keep my story and all my work from being deleated in a click I might have to give lee-way.**

**From**

**The Forsaken Author of the Lost Story.**

**NSW**


	47. Into The Night

**Life As A Fox**

**Chapter 46**

**NSW-The Forsaken Author of the Lost Story (see my bio for explanation)**

**Warning! Character dea- na, just some bad language, I was pulling your leg. ^-^**

* * *

Naruto walked silently into the house. It felt weird to be here, to be back in the real world; it was full of colors and objects - a stark contrast to the hospital. Hinata followed him in carrying Hime. She walked past him planning to put Hime into the crib; while Naruto simply turned and glanced at the wall. It was unnerving to see so many pictures of him, being happy and smiling.

He couldn't remember the reason for smiling, it was like a lost art to him. He never smiled anymore because he didn't have a reason to do so. Yes, he had tried and he was still trying to become happy once more - to fix this pain that radiated deeply inside of him. But it was almost impossible. Gomeg had told him that it would become easier, that it would lessen over time, but to him it was like swallowing a knife: it was slowly cutting him deeper and deeper as it went further inside of him.

He sighed as he padded over to his pillow. The house was silent, empty, an aching echo of sound vibrated around him. Matching how he felt on the inside, aching and silent, but everything around him echoing. He also felt thin, stretched, like butter spread upon too much bread. But he somehow managed to wake up each day, managed to push through his pain and do the required exercise he was supposed to, he ate food, but it tasted like ash in his mouth.

He did all of this in hope for getting better, to be happy, but it was a small hope - that someday his pain would be gone. That he would forget his students, forget about them and what had happened, then he would have no reason for this pain. Sometimes, though, he felt like running away, running away from it all, to drown his body in only the mechanics of running. Hoping he could tear it apart and yet just keep on going.

Naruto collapsed onto his pillow; winding himself tightly into a little ball he closed his eyes and thank-fully drifted off into dreamless sleep. Dreamless - until the point he heard the high pitched screams. Instantly a scene flashed before his eyes: in slow motion he watched as Gin was ripped into bloody shreds before his eyes, falling into the snow soundlessly.

But Hinata's voice cut through the vision, and he was soothed for a second - at least awoken from the nightmare had calmed him. He looked over, light leaked through the crack of the door. Naruto watched as Hinata's shadowed form cooed softly to Hime and put her back to sleep.

Naruto sighed softly and curled in on himself once more, trying to draw comfort from himself, but failing to do so. The next morning he awoke to the smell of bacon and eggs being cooked. He walked softly towards the kitchen then waited patiently next to his food bowl, whereas Akamaru was busy shoveling in his own blend of special Inuzaka kibbles.

Kiba turned to him and said "morning" Naruto nodded as Kiba placed some bacon and eggs into his bowl. Hinata also added a two pieces of newly buttered toast. Naruto nodded in thanks, then began to eat. He over a short period had managed to grace some weight back onto his thin frame but his skin still hung and bones still poked through his fur.

Naruto pushed aside the eggs, he always had hated the things. He randomly looked back to check his scar that he would always bear from that horrid night. It was ragged and ugly - but not as bad as it was. He knew that when his fur grew back in, it would be less ugly and more presentable. 'I_t doesn't matter, I deserve to bear this scar, it will remind me of that failure that I had done, and that I should never do again.'_

Naruto stared bitterly at the rest of his food, finding no ability to stomach it, he pushed it towards Akamaru who greedily polished it off for him. Naruto walked back to his pillow and silently curled up once more.

Around lunch time Hinata called for him, he entered and looked down to his silver eating chalice and began to eat once more. Kiba had went to town to gather some diapers. Naruto ate the food not tasting it. Once he had got to the bottom and looked at his reflection he felt a stirring.

It was a sudden attack on his senses, anger rose up inside of him, lashing out. Rage tore through him - sudden and unexpected. Before he could comprehend what he was doing, he had reached out with his jaws and latched onto the bowl. He then shook it as if it were prey, and threw it randomly across the room. It clanged loudly against the wall then fell clattering sharply to the floor.

A silence descended over the household, which was broken by the piercing scream of a young child. Hinata snatched Hime up quickly and comforted her. She then looked to Naruto, her eyebrow arched in the wordless question of 'Why?' Naruto sighed and said "I don't know...I just..." then he trailed off and walked away.

* * *

Shikamaru, Neji, Kiba, and Lee stood in a circle talking over cold drinks. The night was cool and the sun just setting. They all stood in Neji and Ten-ten's new back yard, a house and property given to them as a gift from Ten-ten's father. Ten-ten and the girls where laughing with each other over nearby the table that held all the food and drinks.

Hime was at a daycare for the evening, a small break for both young parents. Kiba however happened to look up and around, wondering where Naruto was. He glanced over and found Naruto sitting in the shadow of a tree nearby the fence; barely visible, he almost blended into the scenery. Kiba let out a loud sigh and stirred his drink absent mindedly.

Lee noticed this "What's wrong"? Kiba leveled Lee with a glance "What do you think? it's Naruto" At the mention of his name all of their smiles disappeared. "Has he gotten better?" Neji asked Kiba shrugged "I don't know...he eats, he sleeps, he does his required exercise takes his medication...but that's it. He won't talk to you unless you talk to him first, and even if he does answer it's always a 'yes' 'no' or a random gesture."

Kiba said frustrated, he scratched his head above his ear. Neji stirred his drink "I guess that can be a problem" Kiba sighed "I just don't know how long this is going to take, I mean, Kami, it was terrible what happened. I know he's not going to get over it right away, but this is just...scary, seeing him like this, it's not him, it's nothing like him."

Ino had walked over and had over heard the conversation "maybe he just needs a little kind incentive to open up, you know talk about things" Kiba snorted "Hinata has tried" Ino smiled "people don't like to open up to people that are close, they feel it might hurt them, so they like to lie or cover up the fact they are hurting, let me try, my mom is a psychologist you know."

Kiba huffed "Well...see what you can do." Ino smiled and sauntered over to Naruto. "Hey, watcha doing?" she asked him. Naruto seemed to snap out of a daze "Huh?" he said looking to her. "Why aren't you out enjoying the food and conversation, Sakura has ton's of funny stories of what kids have said and done in the hospital."

Naruto stared vacantly at her 'Shit, I forgot he hates hospitals.' she thought to herself. "I mean, are you sure you don't want some of the wonderful food that Ten-ten's mother has made?" Naruto sighed "Not really..." he said staring at the ground. Ino sighed "Fine then." She said getting up. Naruto kept staring at the ground, ignoring her.

Ino felt a spark of anger. She hated seeing him like this, she hated watching him act in such a way. She hated seeing the way Hinata and Kiba tried to comfort him but still he pushed them aside or ignored them, as if he didn't care. This angered her to no end, and now she just had enough. She just wanted Naruto, to be Naruto once more.

This was the train of thinking that made her utter the next words. "You know Naruto, we are trying, we have tried so many times. We have tip-toed around trying not to bring up the past and what happened, but it gets hard doing this. It hurts not only yourself but others around you who care for you - is this what you want? To be all alone over here having everyone else basically throwing you a never ending pity party?"

She stood up. Naruto looked to her bewildered as her anger took hold of her again and spurred her into a longer rant. "The Naruto I know, would not just sit around and mope all the time. The Naruto I know would get back up on his feet and press forward once more! But YOU you just lay there like a dog kicked by his master too afraid and too defeated to do anything,just rolling over and giving up without a fight."

Ino opened her mouth to say more, but her tongue was silenced by a growl, like a knife being pulled form its sheath. "You SHUT UP." he said, his anger crackling about him. "You know nothing, you pathetic human!" he said, making Ino fall backwards in fear. Naruto stalked forward, his body posture both commanding and frightful.

Naruto spoke, his voice grating. "You know nothing of the pain I have went through and still endure to this very second. You claim to understand, that you can make things better. That you could help heal this pain I feel." he laughed cruelly. "But you can't. You are just another fool, thinking that you get through anything in this life by just simply belief in yourself and others!" he snapped.

He growled baring down into her eyes. "You must learn that the world is cruel and cold, and will take everything you hold dear and smash it into pieces in front of your very eyes, and leave you with nothing. Then the world will laugh as you slowly become consumed with pain and hatred." He stood there for a few seconds, then Ino spoke, her voice quivering "Sakura was right...you are not Naruto."

Naruto turned from her and looked out into the rays of the dying sun "You are right, I am not Naruto, I am a wolf-demon who has lost his pack, and the only things that I held dear in this world." Naruto then disappeared, leaving them all speechless.

* * *

Hinata rushed about the house "What are we going to do? We have to find him! That stupid bitch Ino! Why did she have to go and screw everything up!" Hinata threw a small towel against the wall. She groaned at the unsatisfying sound it made. She beat at the air. She was furious, sad and scared at the same time.

Kiba began to calm her and stop her from breaking anything of value. She then collapsed into his strong arms, breathing his scent. He hushed her and assured her; telling her that Naruto just needed some more time alone, and he would be back by morning.

* * *

Naruto stood in front of _It. _The grave of his one student that was allowed the decency of burial. He stood for who-knows-how-long, the wind tugged at his fur playfully, as the silence of the graveyard pressed about him. She had been buried beside his own grave. He did not know why, since he didn't actually know her full name, but it comforted him somewhat knowing that technically her was beside her even in death.

But he cursed the gods for the thousandth time, even though that she was there, buried and locked away securely in a place where no more harm would be fall her. He knew his other students had gained no such security. He had finally come to terms that he needed to get away from this village and find them, and give them the closure that all of them needed.

He gave one last nod to her, then he turned away from her stalking off into the darkness that fell in around him.

* * *

Hinata woke with a start as she practically jumped out of bed. Taking only three strides to the living room she bounded silently to look at Naruto's pillow hoping to see a familiar creme colored figure...but to no avail. She sighed disappointingly, the pillow lay bare. She fell against the wall sadly. Kiba came out "He's not back is he?" Hinata shook her head.

Kiba grabbed his coat "Let's go" he said. Hinata got Hime ready so that she could drop her off at the day care. Once she had done that, they then went off first visiting Iruka's place, then stopping by the normal places where he would normally go. Then going and visiting each one of their friends, getting more and more desperate as they went.

Finally, they had exhausted themselves and their resources. So they went to Kakashi, hoping he had light to cast upon this dark situation. Kakashi was instantly worried. "Don't freak out just yet, we have one more place to go, well...I must go. Stay home and I will be with you shortly." He said, comforting them. Hinata and Kiba did so.

* * *

Mammoth sat in his office, when a figure opened the door unannounced. Kakashi, the seventh Hokage of the the village hidden in the leaves, walked up to him. Kakashi leveled him with his one eye. "Have you seen Fluffy?" he asked. Mammoth shook his head "No, why?" Kakashi all but collapsed into a chair, and cradled his head.

Kakashi spoke "I fear that he has left the village. I don't know why...unless you've given him a mission?" Mammoth stared at him. Then Mammoth spoke "Yes...Kakashi, I gave a depressed demon-wolf a long-term mission to help get his mind off of things...NO, YOU IDIOT! WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU THINK SUCH A THING?" he ended up yelling at the Hokage.

Kakashi was silent. "Sorry" Mammoth nodded "No...I should be, it's just...what should we do?" Kakashi looked away "I don't know, what can we do?" Mammoth spoke "If there is one thing I know about wolves is they, like the domesticated dog, will come back when he decides. That is the only thing we can hope for."

Kakashi nodded "I know, but I still feel useless. I feel like I should have done more." Mammoth shrugged "Maybe what we did was too much, maybe it was too little - who knows what goes on in that mind of his? The only thing I know is that we have to trust him and believe that he will find himself again. It is a journey only he can take and a journey, I know, only he can accomplish." Kakashi sighed. "I hope so, Mammoth, I hope so."

* * *

**Given unto you my fair readers by:**

**The Forsaken Author of the Lost Story.**

**NSW**


	48. Forgotten

**Life As A Fox**

**Chapter 47**

**NSW-The Forsaken Author of the Lost Story (see my bio for explanation)**

* * *

Naruto ran swiftly, his mind remembering the course he took that dreaded night, even if he was in a blizzard. He moved closer and closer to where he was meant to be the final resting place of two of his students. He found Chikao first, his nose located the body and told him of the condition it was in, long before his eyes had laid upon it.

He had hoped the winter snows had preserved the body [which it had to some degree] But even Naruto's Anbu training did not prepare him for what he saw. He would not describe the sight only that it had made him empty his stomach three times before he could even get near the corpse.

He couldn't stand long next to it, the smell of the rotting flesh was too strong, finally after much debate of what to do. He came up with the sad plan of having to move the body by use of the only earth jutsu he knew, which only allowed him to move an expanse of earth a short distance.

So first he dug the hole, then after some rest he used the jutsu and from a distance he carried his student's corpse to the hole. He somewhat gladly shoved a blanket of earth over the hole. He was relived happily from the smell. Finally he walked up to the grave.

Naruto took a tree stump and cleaned it up and made it look presentable. Then carved Chikao's name his rank, and the date of the death upon it. He also added 'Beloved student and cherished son' at the bottom of it. When he had done that, he gathered as many wild flowers as he could find and placed them on his grave.

Then he stepped backwards and lifted his head back and howled for a long long time, giving Chikao the much needed and rightfully earned mourning howl he was supposed to receive. After that Naruto curled up and slept next to the grave darkness had fallen, and everything he had done today had worn him out.

* * *

The next morning he got up and stretched then continued on with his quest. He made his way towards where Baru was. He once again found his student with his nose, taking the old saying 'fallow your nose' to a grotesque level. Baru lay on the forest floor, he like Chikao was an unnerving and un-speakable sight to behold, you only needed to know that it was something no-one should see their loved one in that kind of condition.

Once again he puked what little was in his stomach. Then he made the long grueling journey of carrying Baru's body the almost three mile journey to where Chikao lay properly buried. It took up most of the day, but by nightfall it was done. They both lay next to each other two brothers together forever in this world and the next.

Naruto grieved for them that night as well. Miles around animals were kept awake as a lone wolf howled his mourning song deep into the night.

The next morning he awoke, he looked towards Konoha, he thought it should be time to go back, but he just didn't want to at the moment. So he staggerd up, weak from hunger a bit. He hunted and managed to get himself a meager meal of a grouse hen.

While he was circling about the woods he came across something of interest. A circle of mounds. With a simple stick marking the one side. 'graves' he thought to himself, as he looked about, 'but whose?' he asked himself. He was answered when he saw a familiar object, a pair of glasses that belonged to the man of the Chen clan who had forgotten them in the meeting hall.

Naruto studied the graves they where old. They had somehow managed to bury their dead in the dead of winter. Anger tore through his heart. 'They bury their own, but leave my students to rot?' he growled even he would do no such lowly thing. He shook as he growled 'they will pay, that bloody clan, for everything! I will destroy them, I will make them wish they had never entered the village, I WILL HAVE VENGEANCE'!

But just as sudden as the anger came it was gone. He stood there, shaking in a new emotion, fear. 'what...what am I doing? what...what have I become? have I really sunk this low?...to want for vengeance? He looked up to the sky 'what am I doing? I don't know...I don't know what I want, who I want to be with, or where I want to go...I'm lost...and alone...Sakura...was right...I'm not Naruto anymore...I am something else...I am a pathetic something else...Konoha, deserves better...much...much better.

With that train of thought, he ran off, the nameless demon wolf ran off into the wilderness, hoping to find his reason for life somewhere out in that mysterious new world.

* * *

**Well, that is what I have so far, don't worry though, Naruto will find himself again, just give him and me some more time and patience.**

**Also, in three weeks I will be heading for collage, so chapters in a while will be loaded slower but I will try to keep writing.**

**From,**

**The Forsaken Author of the Lost Story**

**NSW**


	49. Strange Happenings

**Life As A Fox**

**Chapter 48**

**NSW-The Forsaken Author of the Lost Story (see my bio for explanation)**

**Language once again, sorry.**

* * *

So this was it, this was how he was going to die, alone in the wild, laying on his side, unable to move, too weak from hunger to move. He moaned. How could he be such an idiot, and how could he be that terrible at hunting? He thought he was great, he could track and smell and chase after the animals, but bringing down worthwhile prey was...hard.

You couldn't get a good hold of them half the time, or they bucked you off when you did. A single wolf was no match for even the weakest of elk. Rabbits and creatures of that sort wasted more energy to catch then what they gave back in nutrition, so his already weakened form was weakened even more. He lay un moving for some time, waiting once more for death, his only option...or was it?

He didn't know if it was a trick of the mind, or if it was a genuine miracle but a creature emerged from the trees, tall and proud he walked towards him. A blazing white streak of fur on his chest, in the shape of a star. Calm, clear yellow eyes, holding much compassion yet also holding a certain disdain and defiance. The black wolf walked towards him.

He turned towards the wolf, who scented the air. They stared at each other for what seemed for an eternity before the wolf ran off, Naruto sighed and closed his eyes once more. Only to open them at the scent of food dropping before his nose. He looked upon the slab of meat. Red and bloody, the most beautiful thing Naruto had seen.

He eagerly bit into it, slurping the succulent juices down his throat. Naruto looked up at the black wolf, he stood back a few feet, watching him with a reserved posture. Naruto bowed his head in thanks. The wild wolf nodded as well. He then turned, looking back at Naruto, Naruto knew the wolf wanted him to follow, so he did so, staggering to his legs, energy coursing through him once more.

Naruto followed behind the black wolf, he looked about him, to forest he had wandered into. Naruto had been in the wilderness for weeks, it was well into summer now. He just kept wandering the land, tying to find that which he was looking for, but he never did. He never felt satisfied no matter where he went or what he did.

But this wild wolf had shown kindness to him, granted him mercy, his curiosity got the best of him, he had to see what this wolf wanted of him. A clearing opened and Naruto's nose was assaulted by many scents, of many wolves. He looked about him, there was about fifteen of them, a large pack. They all looked to him in interest.

The ones closer to him bared their teeth and raised their hackles, Naruto would have growled right back, had he the energy. Instead he pitifully lowered his head and pressed his ears back, avoiding eye contact. It unnerved him how far he had fallen, where he would so easily submit his will to a stranger, but alas he was weak, weary, lost and greatly confused.

The black wolf gave a sharp bark. The growling ceased, he turned towards Naruto. "Pack has new member" the wolf spoke in his short limited ways. "New member, young, replace old." The black wolf said glancing to six grizzled wolves. Naruto could see that these wolves would only live another year or two at the most, when they died the pack would be greatly weakened, he know knew why the wolf took kindness on him.

Naruto was young, but not too young, but he also wasn't too old. He was that perfect age that allowed him to transition into anything with ease, if he was younger he would not be believed to have the necessary experience the pack needed, if he was older he might be another wolf trying to force his way into a pack and take the lead position.

The wolves that the black wolf had looked to, bowed their heads in reverence to their alpha. A female, russet colored with brown eyes spoke: "Why bring wounded new member? He shows signs of famine, he is weak." Something inside him made him bare his teeth, he was not weak. The wolves saw this, the sudden light in the strange wolf's eyes, true his body was weak but something inside of that wolf was strong, something hidden and buried.

The russet female snarled back she was alpha as well, the alpha female she would not have anyone bare teeth and her and get away with it. But her mate stopped her. "He is strong," he said then spoke "I want to invite you lone wolf, come and run with us, and be a wolf of many." Naruto nodded and consented. But the leader was waiting for something else, Naruto didn't know what.

But then he remembered something he read in a book once about wolves, they must show respect and reverence to their alpha, and the only way to become a member of the pack, was to have the alpha take your life in his jaws. Slowly Naruto slunk to the ground, he rolled over, tucking his tail and stretching out his neck, bearing his vulnerable underside to the sharp gleaming jaws of the wolf before him.

The leader stepped forward and rested his jaw next to his neck, Naruto could feel his heart race as the leader tested him. Naruto did not flinch he did not even move. The leader stepped away, all was silent. "Rise new member, we must hunt." This was all he said, the other wolves raced away, Naruto pressed on after them.

He was now in a wild wolf pack, albeit at the bottom of the totem pole. He knew this because even though the other wolves permitted him to run after them, if he tried to pass or to run next to him, his shoulders and back soon bore their nips and bites, training him to wait until it was his turn.

* * *

They had hunted elk, killing one that had broken it's leg. Naruto was able to help bring it down, he and another wolf pulled at the back leg, while three attacked it's back and the rest lunged at it's neck. When the elk was their's Naruto was thrown aside and forced to wait with a growling belly to eat. What seemed like an eternity later, he was allowed to gorge himself on the elk, there was plenty of it to go around.

The pack rested after that, Naruto found himself at the outskirts. Most of the wolves lay down in the grass or walked about sniffing at things of interest. Naruto lay looking down in the valley and at the forest, he looked to the clear blue sky and sun shining down. He closed his eyes, a soft breeze blew through his fur.

It was crazy, more like insane, but even though he was bullied and pushed around, he felt...it wasn't quite happy, but it wasn't sad, he was more content then anything. He was no longer hungry, he was no longer alone, this gave him two things he hadn't had in a long while. Food and companionship, an interesting combination, but with wolves that was all you needed.

Naruto looked over and studied the pack, most where male. Six of them where seasoned veterans, that would die soon. Their fur colors ranged from charcoal gray to a light muddled white. All of them had the same dull brown gray eyes, nothing of interest in them. All of them bore scars and marks of battles long past. Then came the Alpha's both of them strong and respected, they had led the pack for a long while, they were not the new just beginning pack, they were a long standing pair, that had been doing this awhile.

There was three young males, two brown colored ones and a dark gray. Then there was two very young males, not even fully grown into their feet. The rest was two females, both of them cinder colored. They groomed each other. Naruto turned back to the valley wondering what would happen now, would this be how he lived from now on? Or would he ever return?

The thought of the village made him shiver, he could only imagine the welcome he would receive, all of them would hate and detest him. He wouldn't blame them, he had left...he had betrayed his village...just like his pack before... He paused and looked to this pack, that had saved him and had given him a chance, he would serve them well, he had to...they where the only thing he had at the moment.

* * *

The pack had traveled a long way before they entered into a small grove of trees at the top of a hill. He heard the Alphas call to something. Then from nowhere three pups raced towards them. They yapped and barked begging for food. The alpha's regurgitated meat for their hungry pups. Naruto was somewhat sickened at the idea.

Then another wolf emerged, at least, he thought it was a wolf, it was more bony and frail then him. Extremely long legs, so long that to a point they looked deformed, the same with her muzzle, long and thin. She was a light tan color, with no other markings. But she had emerald green eyes. Naruto was frozen for a second, he didn't understand why she was here and not with the pack hunting.

Then he remembered the pups, they would need someone to watch them, make sure they didn't wander away from the den. The den was a borrow in the roots of a large Aspen tree. The alphas had retired with their pups there. The rest of the pack then went about their usual business and found their own small spots they had claimed for their own.

The strange tan wolf walked between them, all of them either avoided her or brutally bullied her. Shouldering her so hard she fell, or snapping full force just above her head, scaring her. But she merely waited for them to continue on then got back up and continued to wherever she was planning on heading. Once she had passed all of them, she caught sight of him.

She froze watching him, her ears tilting in confusion, waiting for him to act, to see if he would be one of them. But he didn't he merely nodded to her then turned and found his own place. He glanced at the strange wolf, she was now rolling up in a ball across from him. She stared at him then put her head down and closed her eyes and slept.

Naruto did the same thing but before he did he randomly wondered 'I wonder if she has eaten yet?'

* * *

Hime screamed even louder then before, Hinata was growing desperate. Hime was teething, and was very uncomfortable. Which caused her to cry which made everyone uncomfortable. She secretly wished she could be like Kiba and have a mission at the moment, then she also wished that he was here suffering like her as well.

Hinata finally relented and placed a little baby aspirin into Hime's milk then fed her the warm bottle, within a half hour she was asleep which relieved Hinata. "They sure are fussy" a voice said. Hinata froze she whirled around, sitting nicely at her kitchen table with her long dark hair pulled back in a perfect pony tail, two thin strands framing her face. Sat Hanabi, her younger sister, who, she hadn't heard from in about two years.

She had grown, she was thin and dare she say it beautiful in a otherworldly cold way. She stood, she was tall, and thin. Hinata was a little envious, she had gained weight from the pregnancy (but she was working that off majorly...when she had the time) "What are you doing here?" Hinata asked "What? A little sister can't come and see how her older disowned sister is doing?"

Hinata was silent. "Never mind" Hanabi said, "it's just you would think, you would have the sense to know...I mean you _were_ the heir at one time" Hanabi said waving her hand. "What, tell me what you want and get out" Hinata said stiffly. Hanabi chuckled "my my, someone still thinks she has a little wolf protecting her" Hinata flinched. "What- you thought I didn't know that? he's been gone for what? three- four months? He's probably dead somewhere getting pecked on by crows, like he should be"

Hinata screamed "SHUT-UP BITCH!" Then silenced herself because of Hime. Hanabi grinned "well anyway, you know the rules, any child born outside of the clan that has the blood trait must receive the mark of the caged bird." Hinata's eyes widened "no! she's just a baby! you can't do that to her besides I am not in the clan."

Hanabi spoke next, her voice icy "but the blood of the clan still flows in you, and in that mongrel pup you had with that dirty Inuzaka mutt." Hinata glared at her "Kiba is not a mutt" Hanabi laughed "yeah right, but then again, you may be perfect for each other, bitches and mutt's always get along greatly." Hinata surprised Hanabi by crossing the short distance between them and slapping her before Hanabi could register her movement.

Hinata grabbed her hair and brought a kitchen knife from the drawer underneath Hanabi's neck "call me a bitch one more time, and I will show you just what this bitch can do, and not even father would be able to fix your precious little eyes". To add more intimidation Hinata brought the knife up so it's blade pointed directly at Hanabi's eye ball.

Hanabi gasped then spoke "don't get mad at me, you brought this upon yourself, you know the tradition, how we do things, father expects you to do this one thing, if not for him, at least for the clan" Hinata spoke pushing Hanabi away "I belong to no clan, I only belong to myself and my husband." Hanabi rearranged herself then walked to the door, before she left she said "you will be sorry for this."

Hinata stood there shaking for some time after Hanabi left, it had been a long while since she had threatened anyone, let alone attack anyone. Her nerves shook. She clasped her hands tightly, this was hard for her, she couldn't be the confident strong person she once was, not when Naruto was gone. A few tears fell from her face as she put the knife away, she wished Kiba was back, he would know what to do.

When Kiba did return, finding Hinata sitting on the couch hugging herself in tears he immediately went to her side and hugged her, she explained what had happened. Kiba brushed away her tears "it's all-right, it's okay, we will get through this okay?" Hinata nodded "but...how? first...him...and now this, what did we do in our past lives to deserve this?"

Kiba hugged her and kissed her forehead, but was silent from then on.

* * *

Naruto waited, poised and ready, wound tightly like a spring ready to be let go. When the signal came he surged ahead, his strength had returned to him and he now was the one racing against the others, wanting to be the first one on the kill. Their prey this time was an old doe moose, far past her years in calf-rearing. He flew over the ground his muscles flexing, his breath beating, and his heart racing, pumping, making him feel alive, the thrill of the hunt, the call of the wild, they both had given him the needed peace, the ability to forget, it healed him.

He enjoyed as he lept upon the haunches of the moose, tearing into her flesh and fur, dragging her down alongside his pack mates who had accepted him and gave him the amount of respect he deserved. He was now served food after the alpha's beta's and the senior pack members. He greedily ate his fill and then some.

After awhile the pack headed back to the den. Naruto waited at the outskirts, Dirtsnout came, that was her name, the wolves of the wild had a strange naming way. Their leader was Blackpelt, his mate Sunhowl, and his name which was dubbed upon him, Snowfur. The other pack members where the beta's Oakpaw and Rainfur, the hunters Whitesnip,Longbark. Leafstride, Mangepaw,Willowtail, Skytail, Darkclaw, Raggedscar, Meadowpaw, and Petalhowl.

The pups he did not know at the moment, but he shook his head as Dirtsnout scurried to him. He wordlessly regurgitated food for her, something he had been doing now for awhile, he just couldn't stand seeing her so hungry all the time. He knew how hunger felt and didn't want her to go through the same. It was a wordless agreement between them two.

She ate the food quickly, he walked away pretending he was not the one who gave it to her, the other wolves didn't care to know where she got food, they just liked to bully her and try and take it, which is why she ate it so quickly. Luckily this time, most of the other wolves went to their beds. Naruto did the same. Dirtsnout was a peculiar wolf, she was actually Blackpelt's sister, which is why she was permitted into the pack despite her deformity, even though it was known and admitted by Blackpelt that she was adopted.

Naruto found himself drawn to her, he didn't know in what way at the moment, he just knew that she was like him, beaten and picked on, and yet she would wordlessly go and help whoever needed it, it didn't matter if a few seconds before hand they had thrown her to the dirt. She just got back up and tried to help them the best she could, Naruto found this inspiring.

He curled up in his own ball and drifted off to sleep, dreaming oddly. In his dream he was running up a rocky slope, something on his back. He looked back to see what it was, it was a sleeping child. She looked familiar but he couldn't place her. Then Dirtsnout appeared before him, he slid to a stop. She spoke to him, but only in Hinata's voice "save her" was all she said then Dirtsnout turned into a bunch of crows and flew around his head He dodged them only to come to the crest of a hill, he looked down and Konoha was there.

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**So I am writing this at midnight, so I hope it turned out okay.**

**I hope you enjoyed and yes before you ask I got some name ideas from the Warrior cat series okay? You got me. 9,9**

**From,**

**The Forsaken Author of the Lost Story.**

**NSW**


	50. Confessions in Darkness

**Life As A Fox**

**Chapter 49**

**NSW-The Forsaken Author of the Lost Story (see my bio for explanation)**

**Language once again, sorry.**

* * *

Naruto awoke the next morning, his dream still greatly bothered him, but he shoved it aside and pushed on with the pack, helping them bring down prey. About once every two weeks the managed to get a large prey animal down then they would slowly eat off of the kill and try and protect it from scavengers. Naruto had noted that Dirtsnout had gained some weight but was still very skinny.

Nothing really happened in the wild once you had a group or a pack watching your back. You hunted then slept or wandered about until it was time to hunt again. Some wolves would form small hunting pairs and go and chase rabbits or small prey something to pass the time. Naruto joined a few only to help get his hunting skills up to par.

It wasn't until the day the pack was moving out, heading towards a new home, the pups where getting bigger, and the prey was learning that a wolf pack was in the area. So the entire pack was moving. Naruto noted that Dirtsnout struggled at the way back of the pack. She had low stamina apparently, course she was never taken on hunts and was always forced to stay behind and keep track of pups or to watch over the den site.

Naruto slowly eased back so he could at least keep an eye on her, make sure she didn't get left behind. Then Blackpelt stopped scenting the air, he growled warningly. Naruto sniffed the air, the scent of bear was overwhelming, the bears in these woods were not the average black bears who were easily scared away, these were true bears, great large beasts.

Their paws as big as Naruto's head and their eyes glowing. They were more monsters then animals. But underneath the scent of bear, he smelled human. Naruto's heart lept, why would people be out here? in the middle of nowhere? Naruto sniffed deeper, he smelled certain objects like trail mix, and leather. As well as bug spray, they where hikers or maybe campers either way they were defenseless stupid and in trouble.

Before the pack could do anything, Naruto was off. He didn't know why but he couldn't let that bear hurt those people, he just had to make sure they were alive, that they were safe. He heard scrambling in the brush beside him it was Dirtsnout, she wordlessly followed him. Naruto was beginning to think she couldn't speak, he had never heard her utter a single noise, not a yip or a whimper or howl.

He followed the trail, then heard the roaring that overpowered screams. Naruto pushed ahead with an extra stride and broke through the clearing. Two hikers, where up high in a tree, Brown bears could climb they were just terrible at it, their claws where not curved like black bears and they had much bulk to them, they preferred to push trees over, but this aged Aspen proved to be a challenge to him.

The hikers were safe for the time being, if they had some sort of spray or something to throw in the bears eyes, to blind it, it might save them but they didn't. Naruto studied the situation before acting, knowing the bear had almost a thousand pounds to his maybe one hundred Naruto would have to be quick and decisive in the way he attacked, taking in consideration the bears long powerful arms he knew that the bear was strong as well as quick...,so Naruto would have to be quicker.

He ran in, ducking and coming up underneath the bears legs biting at the knee joint digging for the tendon. He missed he didn't think the fur was that thick, but he defiantly wounded the bear greatly. The bear swung around, Naruto expected this. Naruto leaped upon the bears back, digging into the thick neck. The bears arms swung at him but missed.

The bear roared and bucked and tossed about. His great mass seemed to shake the forest floor. Naruto bit and tore an ear off. The bear shook with such a ferocity Naruto was thrown off. Naruto landed on his side, he got back up to dodge a wild charge and nearly missed a swing form those razor sharp claws. The bear lifted a massive paw and swung downwards, an idea springing to Naruto's mind he lept up and captured the paw with his mouth, tearing apart the pad of it.

The bear roared again and it's massive muzzle came towards him. Naruto let go and ran away, the bear chased after him. Naruto turned on a dime, without thinking he added chakra to his head protecting it from the next swing. Then he attacked the crook of the bears neck. Ripping and shredding the thick fur and tough skin away.

Finally the bear backed away he was unnerved that this small creature was causing so much harm to him. He would not sacrifice himself to kill this creature not if it meant being injured when the time for a real fight came, fights for mates and for territory. If he wanted to kill this creature he could but it would cost him, and the cost was not what he wanted to pay.

So the bear backed down, with a final roar he ambled away. Shaking the brush and forest as he did so. Naruto glanced at the hikers they were in shock, gripping onto the tree and staring at him wondering what had just happened. Naruto ran off back into the underbrush. Dirtsnout stared at him, her eyes in shock.

Naruto ignored her and passed by her, running back into the pack, but he didn't have to go far, the pack was there already, they too had seen what he had done. Blackpelt was silent then he spoke "you fight great bear and win, you strong wolf, but you also save two-leggers, un-sure of what to think, do not happen again"

Naruto nodded and lowered himself to the ground "I will not try to alpha" he answered. Blackpelt nodded then with a bark the pack was off, running to find a new home.

That night they slept beneath the moon in a shelter of rocks, it was not their new home, but it was secure enough. Naruto however couldn't sleep, his actions of the day and his dream kept him awake. "Am I supposed to return back to the village? and who was the girl upon my back, not Gin...but who? and why did I recklessly try to save people I did not know, sure they do not deserve that death, but why should I be the one to save them? but then again no one else would have done anything...but why does that matter to me, they were not of the pack, yet I still felt their life as important...Kami what is wrong with me?"

He said softly to himself as he looked up at the moon. It was a cloudless night and the stars and moon shone bright, illuminating the valley side in which they lay upon. Something spoke, a gentle soothing voice, that was airy and crisp like an autumn breeze "speak you, very different" Naruto turned his head towards the voice, it was Dirtsnout.

She padded up to him and lay away from him. Naruto bowed his head in acknowledgement "I speak, my way only" he said shortening up his sentence into the simple wolf tongue. Dirtsnout glanced around "why you, save two-leggers?" Naruto shrugged "why not?" he said back Dirtsnout was confused by this "two-leggers hurt wolves, trap, and hunt us like prey, we do nothing, only run and live our way, yet they send us to the great wolf pack."

Naruto nodded the 'great wolf pack' was their version of an afterlife or a heaven. It was strange that even animals had a sense of feeling towards death, that they too believed they lived on even when they die. Naruto shrugged "two-leggers like bear, attack whatever seems of threat, even when is not" Dirtsnout nodded "you fight bear, as if you bear yourself" Naruto grinned.

It was sudden, the feeling of smiling, something he had not done in a long, long while. His jaw felt strange but also natural doing this, the light feeling he got from it soothed him, he felt very relaxed and even comforted by it. Dirtsnout looked away ears back "I sorry, I anger you, please grant mercy" Naruto shook his head "do not be sorry, I was showing my affection, I comforted by words."

Dirtsnout looked to him she stared at his jaw, then he saw her try and mimic him. Lifting one lip slowly then the other it was comical watching her, Naruto felt his grin widen. She settled with a very sketchy attempt at a smile, it looked more like a grimace. Naruto let out a laugh. A short one at first, but then it all just came bubbling out.

He buried his head in his paws as his body shook with laughter, he felt lightened, it had been so long since he even laughed. Finally he calmed down not wanting to wake the others. Dirtsnout studied him "are you unwell?" Naruto shook his head drawing out another smirk "no, no I am fine, thank-you Dirtsnout, that helped."

Dirtsnout nodded but her eyes had grew sad for a moment at the mention of her name, Naruto could not resist, why was she given such a terrible name? Surely wolf mother's where not that cruel to their pups? "Your name, given to you, why?" Dirtsnout looked away, "name I had before, taken, replaced with name, I deserve, Dirtsnout, to always have my snout in the earth, to always be showing that I am a weak wolf."

Naruto sighed "what was name before?" Dirtsnout looked at him then away "matter, it does not, my name is this now, and name I shall answer to, just like I answer to everything else" Naruto shook his head "just because you are called that, it does not mean it is who you are, you are, who you choose to be called" Dirtsnout looked to him in amazement "speak not, of those words, wolves have their place in the pack, mine is in dirt."

She got up and turned away Naruto spoke before she left "no one is meant for the dirt" she turned to him and cocked her head, her eyes softened a bit, as she thought, but then fear slowly replaced back into them and she ran to another place to sleep. Naruto turned back to the moon then slowly eased his head down and slept peacefully.

* * *

"So do we have an agreement"? the women spoke to the man within the hidden confines of a room at a far away inn. They could hear the sound of laughter and noise as men broke into fights below them. But the room that the two stood in was silent as the man assessed the situation. He reached across the table and grabbed the large sack of coin's. Hefting it about, testing it's weight.

His face was shrouded in darkness, the only light came from the moonlight that shone through the window and landed only on the table, leaving it's occupants who sat on either side of it in shadow. Finally the man dropped the coin, he spoke "double this and what I have requested after, am I correct?" The women nodded, then said yes in her usual icy voice.

The man chuckled "very well, besides I have some old debts in Konoha that need to be re-paid" the man said leaning forward. His face on one side was like marble, perfectly chiseled and un-marred, his long silver hair glowed in the light. Then the other side emerged, scarred and ragged, a bandage wrapped around his head to cover up the place where an eye was once held.

He grinned then nodded to her "it has been a pleasure Hyuuga" Hanabi leaned forward as well light cascading down her face "indeed it has been" the man pocketed the coin, then spoke "it is too bad, I were not younger, a women with beauty like yours would be a welcome sight by my side" Hanabi grinned "you flatter, but if it where another life, I believe I would have gladly accepted"

The man nodded and in a fluid noble way he rose, commanding attention with the way his body moved. He bowed his head then left the room. Hanabi rose and left as well, only though the window, then traveled back home, knowing that her father would be pleased.

* * *

**Another day another chapter, I hope you enjoyed.**

**The Forsaken Author of the Lost Story.**

**NSW**


	51. Fall From The Pack

**Life As A Fox**

**Chapter 50**

**NSW-The Forsaken Author of the Lost Story (see my bio for explanation)**

**OMG I MADE IT TO 50! THIS CALLS FOR CELEBRATION! ALL OF YOU TAKE A LOVING BOX OF POCKY AND ENJOY THE NEXT CHAPTER!**

* * *

A bird flew high in the sky, wings outstretched as they surfed the winds and drifted on the air. He let out a wild call as he expressed himself as a bird might do, relishing in the fact that he had his own domain and kingdom. One who's throne steps reached far away from the pitiful flightless animals of the earth. He spied down upon a long line of travelers, the four legged beasts of the forest, hunters of the land, the ones who carved into the night air with their eerie and beautiful howls.

They walked in a single file line, following each other. They had to, they walked on treacherous ground. On their search for a home they decided to cross over into the next valley. The quickest way was through a steep and dangerous pass that few creatures used, even mountain goats and mountain deer thought twice before ascending or descending such a trail.

It was a thin trail made completely out of loose shale rock that twisted and slipped beneath their paws. On top of that, it was situated at the top of a steep hill, which inclined into a dangerous cliff drop off. The wolf pack guarded each step carefully moving slow, the most sure footed of wolves carried the pups in their mouths.

When a wolf tripped or slid, which happened quite often the others behind that wolf stopped and waited patiently for them, they knew haste would only make things worse. Naruto walked second to last, Dirtsnout behind him. She clattered among the rocks noisily. Naruto kept an eye on her making sure she didn't slip up to much.

Naruto looked to Blackpelt in lead, Naruto at the moment did not care for this wolf, he lead them so foolishly into such a dangerous situation, knowing that their lives could be forfeited because of his hurry to find a new den and food. No alpha should risk the lives of their pack so recklessly. Naruto slipped up, he caught himself as he watched the rocks cause a mini-avalanche down the hill side.

It was then realized that he had started to view and worry about the pack as if it was his own, somehow he had passed the threshold of wanting to forget he was a leader, now he felt like being a leader again, he felt like he needed to protect something, that something was in danger, he just assumed it was this wolf pack.

He regained his footing then continued on, one of the pups whimpered as the wolf holding him slipped. The pack all stopped at it's frail sound. Naruto growled lowly to himself "is something the matter?" Dirtsnout asked quietly behind him "no alpha, should risk lives, of young" Dirtsnout was silent for a bit as she concentrated on her footing.

She spoke up after a few feet more "my brother kin, is very brave, he cares about pack greatly, do not say such things about him" Naruto sighed and continued on. But then Dirtsnout stepped on a sharp rock that dug deeply into her pad. She yelped and her body immediately reacted by jumping slightly. This caused her to slip form the path then slide down the hill, as a torrent of rocks slid beneath her feet.

Naruto reached for her on instinct, taking her scruff in his jaws and trying to pull her to safety. But this only managed to get pulled down with her. His heart raced as he slid at an uncontrollable speed down the hill. Luckily there was a large rock that was randomly and thankfully in the middle of their trajectory path.

They caught themselves on it and regained their nerve and breath. They turned to the wolf pack, they stood watching them, calling out to them. Naruto barked back to them then began to crawl his way up the hill. Dirtsnout followed suit. But Naruto soon found out the hill was just too steep, an impossible climb. He slid back his effort wasted.

Dirtsnout made a ways further then he, she was lighter. But she too soon came clattering back to him. They lay in a heap as they disentangled form each other, the other wolves grew silent. Blackpelt called out "can you climb up?" Dirtsnout answered "no brother we cannot, can you come down?" Blackpelt was silent then he spoke "I am sorry sister, but we cannot afford to lose more pack members."

Dirtsnout looked at him "what you mean more? None of us have been lost" Dirtsnout said, Blackpelt turned away from her. He continued on-wards up the slope, one by one the other wolves followed. Dirtsnout was struck into silence, the feeling she felt was terrible, her only kin, her brother had turned his back on her, had left her to die without trying to help.

Tears began to form in her eyes, she howled out to him, pleading for him, where was the brother that had stood by and protected her from the tradition of the wild? The one that saved her from being killed, the one who gave her food at times, who allowed her to shelter with them? Where was that brother she had nestled with beside her adopted mothers side.

The betrayal opened her up and made her feel hallow inside, she thought alphas looked after their pack, that was the way, and here he was walking away from them. Leaving them behind, what would she do now? How would they survive? How would she without her pack? She needed her brother, she had to reach him somehow.

She scrabbled the slope with greater fury putting every last bit of strength into it. But Snowfur's voice spoke "wait, go slow, and wait for me" She paused, she had not thought about Snowfur, she forgot he was next to her. She nodded and did so, but began to slide back she moaned as she expected to fall against cold rock, but found she had fell against something warm.

She turned Snowfur was there standing bracing himself somehow giving her support to lean against as they made their way up the hill. Inching along bit by bit each step seemed to take a sun phase. She allowed herself to look up, Blackpelt was almost near the crest of the hill. She pushed on climbing slowly her spirit of wanting to be with her brother pushing her.

* * *

Naruto gritted his teeth as he held himself securely with his chakra, digging down deep past the first layer of shale rock to the stable layer that lie beneath it. It took much control and concentration. He may have been so out of use of using his chakra, but he soon remembered how to do everything once more. Dirtsnout made no comment of how he was able to do such a thing, though he probably guessed now wouldn't be the time anyone's curiosity would get the better of them.

They continued on and were almost half way up the slope, when Dirtsnout thought it must have been okay to forge on ahead faster, only it wasn't, she slid once more, she rolled away from him more to the left, Naruto knew if he didn't catch her or if she didn't stop she wouldn't have a rock to save her.

She screamed in her mind as she slid, her impatience and misjudgment getting the best of her. She scrabbled as she rolled, her instinct was on full charge she wanted to live, she wanted to somehow grow claws that dug deep into the earth to hold her still and firm. In the mad rush of the fall something happened, a sudden flare of fire in her chest, she thought it for a wound, but it spread throughout her body, and to her legs.

Burning and warming her like the sun, suddenly she found herself still and no longer sliding. She gasped and spread her legs about her trying to even out her weight. She stayed like that, her heart beating like the hooves of a Elk in her chest. Snowfur leaped over her and landed behind her. She gaped at him, he should be falling down the hill in a sea of rock but he calmly stayed behind her.

He spoke to her his eyes holding an amazement, and knowing. "Keep the fire burning, move on" She gasped how did he know of the fire she felt? He pushed her ahead and she made her way up the hill, it was hard to concentrate on the fire, she kept thinking of what she had before, claws digging deep into the earth like a wolf digs deep into his prey's haunches.

They finally made it to the trail, they collapsed exhausted on either side of each other, panting. Snowfur recovered first "we must go" Dirtsnout nodded "yes, my kin must know I breath yet still" He looked to her in surprise and in slight disgust. "What is it?" she asked unsure of what to do. "You go back to him, after he left you?" She nodded "I must, he is my kin, my brother, the only one I have."

Snowfur looked as if he was going to say something but he changed his mind and stood "then we must go" he said in a dark tone. He led on no longer being cautious of where he stepped, the ground beneath him seemed to be solid, even though the fire in her had left and she was back to teetering and tottering about.

* * *

They made it to the crest of the hill, the pack was already at the bottom resting, Snowfur howled at them, the pack staggerd up, some wagged their tails in happiness knowing that they where alive, they barked and yipped back. Blackpelt did not show any emotion. He said nothing at first when they arrived, he only turned to Dirtsnout, who was expecting her brother to be happy that she was alive, since she was his only sibling.

But no, he spoke gruffly, "don't fall behind again" This was worse then any blow before, worse then when he had left her, did she trully not matter to him? Then why did he permit her to live? To walk beside his pack? To watch his pups? Why did he allow her all of these things but yet hold no affection towards her? Was there something wrong with him, or...with her?

She looked away downcast, was her deformity getting worse that now even her brother was beginning to detest her? She lowered herself to the ground rolling over on her belly the lowest of all positions. Blackpelt only glanced at her and gave a small growl then turned away from her. She rolled over and lay in the dirt, her snout burying itself in the earth, where it should be.

But Snowfur came beside her and nudged her with a paw he kept doing so until she rose then he turned to her and spoke "do not waste time or energy on pleasing him, his true fangs have been bared, know now what wolf is he" Dirtsnout was silent for sometime after.

* * *

Naruto stared at her, she had to be, there was no other explanation, at the hill she had used chakra, he felt that flare of a tiny chakra coil begin to work. It moved like an aged clock that had been sitting in the attic for years, it needed only dusting and care and then maybe it would be able to count down time for ages to come.

He stared at her some more, but what kind of demon was she? Wolf yes, but something else, and if she was one, why did she act like a normal wolf? Was she hiding herself? Or did she truly not know who she was? What she was? Her reaction seemed to justify the latter. Interesting, he thought to himself a demon that does not know she is a demon.

He followed the pack from the on solely for the fact of figuring out what Dirtsnout was, he needed to know her past, he needed to know her. So following under the guidance of a deranged and un-caring alpha he made his course.

* * *

He first began with the elder wolves and hunters, he had gained enough respect from them where they would permit him to lay with them. He did so then spoke "hunting shall be very nice, once pups old" The other wolves nodded in agreement "what will Omega do without pups to watch? shall she run with us then?" He asked.

The other wolves shook their heads "no, she does not hunt, nor will she ever be allowed to grace the side of a hunter" Naruto nodded "her deformity, it does not allow her?" The wolves nodded "yes, it is strange why Blackpelt keeps her alive" Naruto cocked his head "why, should he not?" The other wolves stared at him "it is the rules of wild, strongest and fit, live to breed, those with deformities are to lay out to die."

Naruto nodded he assumed it was something along those lines. Whitesnip continued "Dirtsnout was found by Blackpelts mother, it was during time of famine, she did not see the deformity, no wolf see until it to late to undo the naming" Whitesnip continued "a wolf who has earned name, earns life, she lives only because her deformity,hidden it was until then."

Naruto was silent for a bit, "she was named Dirtsnout from beginning?" The wolf shook his head "no, her name before...Tanstride, name that was taken and replaced with name of her true title, Omega, the one who eats of dirt." Naruto nodded some of this was making sense. "Why would wolf, take in another mouth to feed when it was hard to feed their own?"

Whitesnip shrugged "females that way, feel sad for pups, want to nurture and care, it is their nature." Naruto nodded "so find Dirtsnout she did, all alone no pack to claim her?" Whitesnip nodded "As though a sky beast dropped her" Naruto nodded understanding his meaning, she just came out of nowhere no one knew her linage, it was a mostly dead end for him, but he had some answers at least.

* * *

She lapped water up from a pool, well enough away from the other wolves, he decided to speak "Tanstride" he said hesitantly not knowing if she would react. She whirled around, staring at him "my..name,..you know of first?" Naruto nodded "you never spoke it, I grew restless waiting" She looked away "I am not permitted to answer to, such name."

He shook his head she was so unbelievably ground in her ways, her tradition, the code. When would she learn? He could see that she suffered, that she hated this life, but then she also needed this life. He grew frustrated "why stay where you are forced to eat dirt? Why not go on your own, become lone, hunt alone, live alone, be free of name and meaning."

Dirtsnout looked off in the distance Naruto knew then she had thought-no dreamed of doing such things. "I cannot do such things, fight I cannot, nor hunt, I am weak and deformed." Naruto stepped towards her "do you not, have four legs like wolves? Two eyes? Muzzle? Tail? You are not deformed, you are only different...like me." He said admittedly.

She glanced to him he could see in her eyes that she had certian curiosities about him as well. He spoke "on the hill...that fire you felt, that was something few are born with, it is something no one else in pack has." She glanced to him "I only wanted to live, I do not know how I called it forth, I can no longer do so." She said looking away sadly, Naruto knew she had been trying.

He grinned "I teach you to control, make you strong to hunt, to run, to fight by your own, stand on your own, be pack on your own, LIVE on your own." She stared at him "to what end?" she asked "What would be the point?" Naruto spoke from his experience "So that no other wolf will die because they followed blindly, a foolish alpha."

* * *

**Yes, this is what I have accomplished for my 50th chapter, the unveiling of a new demon.**

**Also I hope none of you are confused by the wolf speak, I am trying to convey the sense of limited language and knowledge, but I hope it**

**is not too strange and hard to follow.**

**From,**

**The Forsaken Author of the Lost Story**

**NSW**


	52. Training A Wolf

**Life As A Fox**

**Chapter 51**

**NSW-The Forsaken Author of the Lost Story (see my bio for explanation)**

**So like I said I have two weeks before I am off to collage I hope I can get as much done, please excuse if I end up totally killing the chapters with grammar, (my beta as well is going off to college) But I will try and make sure not to give you utter trash, and if it is I apologize once more, and will probably fix it.**

* * *

The training of Dirtsnout was rather simple at first. First he just took her on run's building up her stamina, he hunted for her and she joined him though she was never successful at first. But after almost two weeks, she finally managed to capture her own prey. She had ran herself ragged, crashed into a thorn thicket, tripped over rocks, got tangled in roots, but she kept upon her prey, and ended up victorious.

She had to rest, and pull thorn's out of her fur before she could enjoy the rabbit. Snowfur then moved on to teaching her how to jump and turn on a dime, spinning her body so that she could avoid such confrontations in the future. Her body at first protested to such vigorous workout's, but it soon filled out with supple firm muscles, although she would never be the strong commandeering warrior, she would be the type that fights...to run away.

Her long-leggedness was at first quite awkward for her, but after training she found use for her legs, they could run and keep up with even the fastest of deer. (If she had enough strength and stamina, she could even wear a deer down) Naruto was slow at introducing chakra, he at first avoided the subject entirely, he wanted her to know normal wolf things before going into the advance stages of demon wolves.

He also was slowly introducing new words to her, teaching her to speak, he mostly did this by just talking to her like any normal person. She knew that he was not a normal wolf, she did not quite understand what this term 'demon' meant but she was always shocked with what he could manage to do. Climb trees, walk on water, split a leaf with invisible claws.

He formed a strange glowing barrier around himself he called it his 'armor' a word she had never heard before. It was all confusing for her at first, training both her body and mind to all these new strange things. She was afraid at what she found out she could do, she was also afraid at what Snowfur could do, and at other times she was afraid at what the pack might do if they saw them.

But they had kept their meeting's secret. It mostly thanks to the reason that the alpha's were too busy training their own pups. At times she felt like a pup herself, she would always keep making mistakes and messing up, Snowfur would have to keep showing her and adjusting what she did, but he never got angry, he seemed to enjoy teaching others.

She noted that he got this shine in his eyes when he was teaching, he became a whole other wolf, he moved with such energy, like he couldn't contain it all and it was leaking from him. She liked that he never got angry with her, he never raised his voice and he never EVER snapped at her or pushed her aside. He respected her and held her with some reverence.

This was the thing that shocked her most then all others, all her life she had been pushed aside and pressed into the dirt, forced to always bow and show submission, she was taught that she was different and the punishment she got was what she deserved and that she should be thank-full for it, because it was either that or death. But he taught her differently, he taught her that no matter what position you were born into, what role you play in the pack you deserve to be respected and cared for, you deserve to be treated worthwhile.

It was these things that made her confused, the clashing ways, his training and teaching compared to the tradition of the pack that she had grown up with. Something inside her told her this was wrong, she should not be doing this, that she was an omega and that she should not try and rise above her place. But with everyday that voice inside her became smaller and smaller, as if it was being washed away by the spring floods.

* * *

She had captured a rabbit on her own, a healthy one (somewhat on the small side but she didn't care) Also this time she did not trip...(however she did get caught in a burr thicket and was now chewing said plant forms out of her fur...which was not an easy task.) Snowfur was laying in the sun warming himself on a rock.

She finally asked the question "where do you come from, how you know...so much?" He looked over to her "I come from far away, and I know so much because I have been trained in these ways my entire life." She shook her head "I don't know how you could, so much to learn...why, what use is walking up trees...or walking across, water...what made you decide to learn?"

He shrugged "my...alpha taught me these things, all of my alpha's did" She looked at him pulling a burr out of her chest as she did "you had more then one?" He nodded "several...I...in...my home..." he grew silent after the mention and grew sad, lost in thoughts. "Home...is gone?" she asked him he shook his head "no...home is...there still...just away from my grasp."

There he was using those strange words again, speaking in such a higher way, and yet she liked it, she liked the way he spoke, talked, he seemed to form images in her mind with his words, wolves only spoke in simple ways, enough so you understood what needed to be. But Snowfur, he gave you more, he didn't just say a rabbit was over there, he described the rabbit, and how far away, he just...expressed himself in such peculiar ways.

She spoke "if home is still there...why not go? why stay? why not go back to your pack" He twinged when she said that, she stopped. He looked away so sad, she swollowed "your pack?..gone?" He turned to her a tear falling "yes" was all he said. She was silent, it must have been hard for him. To lose your family, a terrible thing.

She continued "you could not bear to be home...memory of pack...too strong?" He turned to her and nodded "I...their leader, three...young pups..just starting." She felt a sudden sadness for him, he was an alpha once, (which explained why he had that strong aura of soundness about him) an alpha who lost his pack, she could well imagine the pain, leading those who trusted him, and loved him...then losing them.

She wondered did they die? Where they overcome with sickness? Did they leave him? she wanted to ask these things but was unsure if it would hurt him, however her curiosity broke though "if it hurts too much not, speak of what happened...you tell?" He turned to her silently then after a few long moments he spoke "I led them into...battle, against another...pack, they fell...and I survived."

He looked away his head downcast, "you feel terible pain, you feel you should have fallen with them?" she then said. He nodded "understandable it is" she said looking away. "But I think you better then most, some alpha's only care for glory of pack and lead, they care not if one or two fall, as long as he has pack behind him he strong, but you, you mourn for pack still...this make you strong wolf, caring, me find that very good in you."

He nodded "your right, thank-you...I hurt still, but I feel that being out...in wild, has clensed me of some of that pain, lessened it, I know that there is more for me..I just don't know what and reason why." She cocked her head "wild...what is that?" He looked at her slightly embarressed "er., well...it is here, the woods, the tree's, where humans are not."

She stared at him "what is human?" Snowfur took a breath "two-leggers, they call themselves humans" She stared at him, this was a new word, it was interesting she rolled it off of her tongue. "How you know about such things?" she asked turning to him. He looked to the ground. He spoke fianlly "I once live with them."

She leaped to her feet, it was terrible, a wolf does not submit himself to the two-leggers! How could a wolf run with humans after what humans do to them? Killing and hunting, burning their dens and clubbing their pups. Destroying them not for food, but for enjoyment, those terrible beasts, and he...why! He watched her back away as if knowing she would act this way.

She wanted to run away and tell Blackpelt of this, she wanted to also run away and bathe, wash the presense of him from her. But she didn't something small told her to stay and listen a bit more. "w...why you run...with such...creatures" He spoke "They saved my life" he said flatly. She paused she had never heard of a wolf being saved by a human.

He continued on "I was alone when I was a pup, no mom and no dad, I wandered about not knowing where to go or who I was...a human found me and took me in, he didn't care that I sometimes made a mess, or got him in trouble, he would punish me yes, like any alpha would do, but then after he would tell me how proud of me he was, that I was so brave and stood up to so much bullying."

She stepped forward "why you bullied?" He swung his head to her "you wolves are not the only once with misconceptions" She went blank for a second, not knowing what such a large word meant. He paused "you wolves...are not the only ones...to assume that the other species...is bad, humans are told that you are baby eaters, and kill men for fun."

She rose growling her teeth bared "we do no such thing! it is the humans that do such things! Never have I hunted for a human, I run from them, I hope they never see me! I have never wanted to eat their pups nor will I ever! No wolf in this pack or any pack we have run into has ever lay a claw on a human, but the humans have taken many of our number in return!

He smiled softly "why you smile? what amuzes you?" she snapped at him "it is nothing, it is just nice to see you so fired up, to see that inner fire inside of you burning, you are so..." She stared at him blushing slightly "what?" she asked he turned away blushing "oh, it's just...I was going to say...you look like you are glowing, why do you not be this way all the time? Never would you be pushed around, not with that fire crackling inside you."

He said smiling at her, his eyes glowing. She smiled softly, her face had learned to do this expression without even thinking. She turned away as well "thank-you, but you are wrong, if I show such defiance, I would be beaten until I learned my submission once more." Snowfur growled it surprised her. "It is wrong for they to do that to you, if they did...I...I would fight them and get you out of here, I don't..."

He was silent as he stared at her "I don't want to see anything like that happen to you, it hurts me even now to see what they do you, I have to control myself from not growling and ripping the pelt off of some of the other pack members." She blushed harder "you should not worry for me, I am a omega, you are a hunter."

He stepped up to her, his eyes burning into her's "what have I been teaching you? no matter who you are, or what you where born into, everyone should be treated with respect, and anyone can be whatever they want to be." Her heart skipped a beat at the thought, to be able to hunt alongside her packmates...no to be able to hunt alongside Snowfur on a real hunt...to take a large animal down, the thrill it would be.

To be able to eat all she wanted of a meal and not wait for scraps..to howl, oh how she longed to howl, her voice ached. She got to howl only once in a great while, and even then she was cut breif, her howl apperently was deformed and strange like her muzzle and legs. She looked to Snowfur, "I would fight for such chances, to hunt real prey, to howl in excitement after a hunt, to be able to eat my fill, but such things are...dreams...never to happen."

He smiled to her and leaned closer "the reason for dreams...is to show what we can aspire to be, if we only try hard enough and believe we can." She shivered "and what is it you dream?" she asked he stepped back and looked away "to return to my home, welcomed once more, and to ask forgivness, to those I hurt with words."

She glanced at him "you hurt your humans...with words...you can speak to humans?!" she yelped in surprise. He nodded "remember I am no wolf, and neither are you, we are demons, our powers are many." She stood their stunned "you would return...to them...when?" He looked to her "when I know you are ready to be on your own...to be able to live without ever having to grovel in the dirt ever again."

She sighed "I long for this as well...but I do not want to live life alone...alone I can never be, companionship is must for me, I was alone once, when I was a pup, die I did almost...I need someone to be with me, for me to survive." Snowfur nodded "it is understandable, but please try to understand me...I know you hate the humans, but I know they are good, they have shown me that, they are...my...my.." he trailed off.

She glanced to him he stared at the ground wide-eyed. Then he shook his head "how could I be...so stupid...I pushed them away...when they were...all of them were..not just them three...yet I still did not see...Gomeg was right...I am a fool,...the biggest...I hope...I hope they have not forgot me...but they should...after what I said."

He mumbled on to himself, She sat there unknowing of what to do, wanting to break him out of his strange trance, but also wanting to know more. He continued on "They would be angry with me, they already were before...and the punishment...I would receive for leaving...what can I do? I am stuck...I want to go back but can't for fear that if I do...they wouldn't accept me..."

He slowly laid down. She sighed and nudged him, she had enough of this. She turned to him "take what you have said to your own self, remember pack members may leave or get lost, but when they come back, welcome always will they be, as long as they remember who they are to pack, what pack is to them."

He looked up to her and smiled her heart for the first time fluttered just because of a look. "Where would I be, if not for you?" he said softly, "gone away I would have been after what happened to us, I would have gladly left, and been tormented for rest of days not knowing, but thanks to you...I have hope." He stood up "but I will stick to my promise, until you trained, then leave I will."

He then turned to leave. "Wait" she said he turned to her, "you have done so much and continue to do so much, I wish to thank-you, word thank-you not enough to please me...so" she shook as she leaned forward and gently licked his cheek. Then she dashed away amazed she had built up the courage to do such a thing, it was unheard of for an omega to do such a thing to a hunter.

* * *

Naruto stood there dumbstruck, a heated blush growing on his face, the place she had licked burned ever hotter, he felt a fluttery feeling in his stomach, he even felt giddy, he trotted away, feeling as if he was walking on air. She had licked him! She had licked him!...wait...what did that mean? What was a lick to wolves? A hug...a kiss?...Wait! wait! Why did he care if it was a hug or a kiss? She was just a friend right? A fellow demon like him...like Gomeg, a friend that was it...right?

This wheeled about in his head well into the night, in the middle of the night he could find no sleep, he looked towards her. He was met with those stunning green emeralds in the dark of the night. He turned away quickly hoping she hadn't saw him looking at her. He kept his head turned and glanced sideways. She did a quick double take of him.

He smiled, her antics were so...enduring. He looked away from her embarrassed a blush coming to his face. He had to stop his tail from wagging by sitting upon it. He cursed himself in his head 'what is happening to me! it was just a lick! she was just saying thank-you! get a hold of yourself Naruto she's just a...kind, caring, wolf who had a powerful will of fire burning inside her... she's just not confident to let the others see it. He sighed 'why couldn't they see it? That strong fire in her? Burning so, bright...and beautiful, why did they only see her muzzle and legs? did they not see her eyes?

His heart softened at the thought, he had the urge to look over again and look at those deep green eyes, like two emeralds, memorizing and flickering in the light. Did they not see that fur? A sandy brown tan, that reminded Naruto of the beach. It was so fine and soft as well, (he remembered from practice fighting with her) He sighed at the memory. 'wait...no! stupid mind! what is wrong with me! He thought before drifting off to sleep.

* * *

"That's it, just keep concentrating you are doing amazing" She nodded as she carefully stepped back towards shore. She landed on land, safe and dry, she was so happy with herself, she could now walk on water for ten steps, all the way to a rock that jutted out of the water and back. She looked to him smiling, he beamed down at her as well.

They stood in a small meadow that had a small pond in the middle, tree's grew at the way edge, and long summer grasses and reeds grew about them, purple and yellow flowers sprouted up about them, their scents filling the air. Drowning them in their aromatic bliss. She began to stalk away and follow the trail of a rabbit.

She couched down on her haunches and waited, it was only a few meters away, she tensed but was also relaxed. Poised and ready she waited for the rabbit to put it's head down and eat, she waited until it's paws where busy picking up some food, then she bolted. She flew over the short distance and the rabbit was blind-sided, he didn't even know what happened.

She captured the small frail neck within her jaws and took the life from it before it could let out a scream (few knew that rabbits had very high pitched and grating screams) She happily carried it over to Snowfur, he stood beaming at her, "I have taught you so well, there is little left to teach you, now there is only practice, which you will get plenty of on your own."

She faltered in her step, she didn't want to be alone, she had confessed this to him, and yet he kept saying it, so until she convinced him otherwise, she would just have to keep learning new things, give him an excuse to stay. "No I am far from done, there is so much I have yet to do...walk up trees I have found reason for such skill and wish to learn, and I still have not brought down large prey."

Snowfur was going to say something but he stopped and nodded "very well, whatever you think is best" She grinned happily, he would stay longer then. She motioned to the rabbit "eat you wish?" He grinned "yes, thank you" They then lowered both their heads to eat but bumped noses. He jumped startled, she could see a blush upon him, "I...I am sorry, you first, it is your prey"

He cocked an ear sideways, and looked sheepishly away, she wagged her tail in amusement and nodded she pushed the rabbit towards him more, he adjusted himself then they found that if they ate on either side of the rabbit they could share the small meal. Snowfur greedily pulled the meat from the small bones, red, soft and delicious he gulped the rabbit's flesh.

She watched him wondering for a second "food...humans eat?" He looked to her "much they eat, they are always coming up with new things, they eat everything, meat, berries, nut's then they create, ton's of stuff, things you never imagine, animals can get fat of what they throw away as scraps." He said to her, chewing the leg meat between bites.

She pulled out some of the intestines and gulped the squiggly mass down. "You miss food?" He shook his head "not much, there is some I miss, but I can get by" She nodded "tommorow we start walking up trees?" he nodded "also I wish another thing to learn" he looked to her "what?" he asked "human tongue, I wish to learn it, in case I ever run into them, I can speak and they will not kill me."

He looked to her saddened " I am sorry, but you must know, humans...well certain ones, detest demons more then wolves" She stared at him "what do you mean?" He spoke "well, to put it simply, you are the only other of my kind I have met" She stared at him "are we the last demons?" He shook his head "no, I mean, I have met other demons, a badger, and ton's of Gyrfalcon's...but, you are the only other wolf I have met."

She nodded understanding, "so our kind...demons survives, but the wolves of our species...may not for long?" He grew silent "I am sure there are others, like I said I have not traveled far, they may be scores of wolf demons in other lands, along with many others, but you are the only other I have met in these lands." She nodded "I see, so where would I go? To find these others?"

He shrugged (something she had leaned to do as well) "I know not, you just have to follow your heart, demons when trained can find others that way, I do not know this art, I know a demon is a demon because of the chakra within them." She nodded knowing now that the 'fire' inside her was 'chakra'. She looked to him "who knows this art?" He shrugged once more "Gomeg, the badger"

She firmed her jaw "then I must find him, where is his den?" He looked to her "with the humans...in my old home" She nodded "very well, when I am ready we will leave, I must learn this art, so that I am never alone." Snowfur looked sadly to her then shook his head as if trying to clear thought from his head 'I...very well, I think we can do that, so let us hope you learn quickly."

* * *

She had lied, well sort of, she did want to find other demons like her, but that was only her second option, if her first did not work. She just wanted to be with Snowfur, to hunt alongside him, which is why she was tossing about, she was so happy, and giddy they would hunt tommorow! A real hunt, possibly a deer or even an elk!

She wanted to prove to him somehow that she could only be strong and healthy like she was, only when he was around, she did not want to be alone, why couldn't he get this through his skull? How come he did not want her? They shared a look a few nights ago and several during the days, yet he kept trying to push her away, wanting to leave her, but she had been so submissive for so long, letting things she did not want to happen to happen without a fight, but this...Snowfur was one thing she would not let go of...not without a fight.

* * *

He sighed as he glanced at her once more. What to do, he almost exploded with joy when she said she would go with him to his home. He was just sad though because she only wanted to learn how to find others, maybe he wasn't what she needed, he wasn't a big enough pack for her, he was just one wolf, she needed several from the sounds of it, he couldn't give her what she completely wanted.

He was saddened by this, for days now he was in utter confusion over his feeling towards her, the fluttering in his chest, the warmth in his body, the spring in his step and the lifting in his heart when he saw her, everything else seemed to fade from mind. But he had no idea what to do with these feelings, how to express them, he was terrible with women...even with jeriyah's books (which always ended him getting in trouble and women slapping him and calling him a 'perv' whenever he tried to do the pick-up lines from such books)

But now he was a totally different species, he had no idea how to go about well...wooing her, then again he didn't know if she wanted to be wooed so until he had definite signs that she liked him like this, he would pretend to not have these feelings and try his best to not be sad when she leaves him. Besides she wouldn't want him, he was so different from her, he grew up with humans, she grew up in a pack, he was confident and she was shy and submissive.

He turned over yet again and groaned, why was everything out here suddenly so confusing? He sighed and finally yawned arranging himself in his sleep, he soon dreamed of the hunt that will happen tomorrow since she had learned to climb up trees within a day (taking the entire day albeit but still that was pretty good, if he thought is was hard with only two legs, you should try it with four)

He slept peacefully as he thought of what more he could teach her, he wanted to spend as much time with her before she left for another pack. Little did he know that Dirtsnout was mirroring his very thoughts with her own.

* * *

**Yay, they are so cute I think, I don't want to rush things so I am taking my time, I still might think of something else to do with her, so don't think this possible relationship is set in stone.**

**Anyway,**

**From The Forsaken Author of The Last Story**

**NSW**


	53. The Hunt

**Life As A Fox**

**Chapter 52**

**NSW-The Forsaken Author of the Lost Story (see my bio for explanation)**

**IDK I think now I am just bored, so that is why I have updates. :p**

**Also thank-you to all reviewers, I am very pleased with everything you have been sending, it helps out greatly and makes me feel confident in my writing skills, please continue the excellent work. *small sound of applause from Author and Beta***

* * *

The morning came to slow for Dirtsnout, she bounded up the moment the sun crested the hill. She snuck over to Snowfur, and was about to whisper to him to awake, he opened his crystal clear blue eyes. She had not yet decided on weather they matched the sea or the sky, they were like both, sometimes they were deep and memorizing like the sea, drawing you into their depths, and other times they were like the sky, light and far away they swirled about and cast light to your world.

He lifted his head and grinned, silently he nodded his head towards the trees both wolves padded softly into the forest, in their excitement they did not notice a pair of yellow eyes watching them.

* * *

They had traveled for most of the morning moving at a steady trot that wolves could sustain for long periods of time, resting only a few times for Dirtsnout who was not yet at Naruto's level of stamina. They continued on, tracking down a small herd of deer. Following the herd at a distance they slowly began to move in on them.

They had to wait for the perfect time, when the deer were tired, when they didn't have a forest to run into and hide. Finally after many hours of waiting they had their chance.

Naruto stalked forward, Dirtsnout trailing behind him at the ready as well, they watched the herd meander though the brush and grass nibbling and eating here and there. They had decided on an older doe, one that had a slight limp in it's walk, a wound of old that had healed up. Wordlessly Naruto told her to get ready, he would make the move.

There was always a breif moment before that moment when you sprung at the ready, and began to chase down your dinner. It was a weird moment, it was hard to describe but it felt like, all of a sudden you became aware of everything, the way the grass was crushed beneath your feet, the way the wind blew, the way your prey moved, you could almost hear your preys heart beat, thundering in it's chest.

It seemed to over power you, this feeling, you felt...like a god for a second, all knowing, as you attuned yourself to nature and all around you. Then you felt it, it was a signal your mind gave your body, sometimes Naruto wondered how it worked, and why, but he was glad he did, he just...knew, when to go, when to begin the hunt.

The hunt itself was always new and intoxicating, no matter what you were hunting and who you were hunting with. The feeling of the chase, the ground pounding beneath your feet, legs pumping, heart racing, your spirits rising as you are sent to a whole new level of awereness, a whole new level of life. But this hunt, with Dirtsnout, was different.

They had moved in sync, she surged along side of him, her legs pumping like a race horses. They thundered up the slope side by side, matching each other stride for stride. With only a glance they split and circled the herd. The herd began to run and leap away in terror. Quickly they began to seperate the herd, letting the ones they did not want to slip away, and tightening their circle until only one deer remained.

They ran the deer for a little bit, to wear her out, when he could hear the heaving of her breath he decided now would be good. He turned to Dirtsnout, she ran on top of the crest of the hill, the setting sun casting light out behind her, his heart almost stopped at this, she was perfect, she was a true wolf, her perfect green eyes set in determination, her body flexing and rippinling in power.

Her fur glowed radiant form the sun's beams. She glowed like nothing before, he almost thought she was a goddess, in the form of a wolf, it was then he knew. That he could not leave her, he could not let anything bad happen to his beautiful creature, that now moved in for the kill without him. She gracefully leaped upon the old doe, the force knocking the doe sideways and making her trip and fall.

Somehow it was destined for the doe to die, because she tripped and her head struck a rock so hard Naruto could hear the skull shatter. The doe died instantly. Dirtsnout was tossed during the fall, Naruto quickly ran over to her, she picked herself up. Her eyes were full of excitment, triumph and amazment, she grinned proudly.

They walked over to their kill. "I feel, so alive...the feeling of finally being a hunter! I can do these things, you were right, why did I trap myself to life before? When life like this, experiance I could." She turned to him "you...saved me, you showed me this whole new life, showed me, who I can become if I only try and stand on my paws."

Naruto nodded "and you...you saved me from myself, you showed me that...my life has more meaning in it, and that...I can be happy once more, I can live, without the burden's of my pack...weighing on me, that I can finally accept, that, even though they are dead...I live on and I can live on and be happy as well." The breeze picked up from behind him and he didn't know why but he turned towards it.

Words could not describe what he saw, his three students, standing there, on the hillside, they all wore soft white robes that glowed softly. They all stood as they had before, Gin with her hands on her hips, Baru his arms crossed and Chikao one hand scratching his head. They all smiled at him then Gin spoke her voice was just as it always was, sweet and beautiful "we have been waiting" she fainlly said.

"Waiting for you to realize that... we never left you" she said happily she cried smiling like she was relieved about something, "always we have been with you, trying to help you sensei" Gin said she stepped forward pointing to her heart "right here, that heavy feeling was us...being carried inside you, now we can be free." She said this then turned away and walked off, disappearing.

Chikao stepped forward "we didn't want to leave you until we knew" he said softly "we wanted to make sure you had someone to share your life with, someone to make you happy just like we did." He said glancing to Baru, He turned his head as if looking to something behind him, Naruto couldn't see what. He turned back smiling "now sensei...it is time for us to go" He said turning his body slightly, "it is time for us to be at peace" He said closing his eyes, " but know that, we will always run beside you no matter where you go in life." Chikao put a hand to his heart then waving he turned and walked away disappearing like Gin did.

Baru was the only one left, he was silent then spoke "wolves, will leave and die from a pack, but the pack must always hunt on sensei, never forget that" Naruto shivered. Then he said something, that he had been wanting to hear, he just didn't know what it was until Baru said it "we forgive you" that was it those three words, and Naruto's pain and guilt he had carried vanished. "You are forgiven, now please be happy...for us" he said then he slowly faded away as the wind whirled about, their scent was on the breeze for a few moments and then they where gone.

The last bit of sadness that had laid in his heart was gone, the last bit of guilt was taken away, he was reassured, he knew what he had to do...he had to hunt on. Turning to Dirtsnout he knew, that the one he would hunt on with would be her, his students had led him to her, knowing she would be the one to ease his pain, and to heal him, like he healed her.

She looked to him surprised "you are crying? what is the matter?" He smiled "these...these are tears of joy...I...I now know what to do...I now know what I want." She looked to him, her eyes flashed hopeful but then she must have told herself not to jump to conclusion and she hid it. He didn't know if it was proper, and he didn't care but it felt right.

He leaned down and licked her muzzle. She tasted sweet like honey. She stood there stunned she stared at him blushing, he blushed as well "was that wrong?" he asked suddenly. She smiled "no...it was perfect" then she leaned up and licked his cheek and muzzle. He leaned in against her soon, they were rubbing and butting their heads together, enjoying the feel of each others fur upon theirs, the warmth and indulging in each others scents.

Soon they just stood there, she had wrapped her head around and lay it on his shoulders, he did the same. They just needed to be together. Finally Naruto spoke "I don't know about you, but there is a perfectly good deer that we had killed, we should probably eat it" She backed away slowly "you are right, come...let us eat...my love."

There it was the bond between them spoken, love, how odd, he had never thought it to happen, and yet here it was. The feeling of sharing a heart with someone else, he could feel their bond to each other, the bond between mates, just as Gomeg spoke, it was fresh and new, but the more time they spend together the stronger it would grow.

They leaned down and side by side they ate their fill. The stars were just beginning to come out, "let us howl" he said She looked excited for the first time, "please let me warn you, my howl is not the best, they say it is ugly like me" Naruto leaned down "you are not ugly, you are the most beautiful wolf I know, besides, my own howl...is...different"

Naruto gave an example and threw his head back, as always he started out with a keening fox like yip then it turned into a full pure wolf howl carrying on into the night, then ended on a small yip like sound. She had joined in, her voice as well keened and yipped like his, singing into the night air mixing with his voice, her yips more longer and sharper, while his were short and staccato.

Together their voices blended to create a balanced harmony. When they were done they moved to rest from their meal. But that was when Blackpelt came, "hunting with the omega are we?" his voice rang out, chilling the air. They both got to their feet, the pack fanned out behind him. Blackpelt glared down at them with his yellow eyes.

Naruto stepped forward "yes, she is a good hunter" Blackpelt growled "who gave you permission to hunt omega? omega does not hunt, neither does hunter allow omega to hunt" There was a silence, "omega! show submission you must, punishment is to be given." Dirtsnout was about to obey, but she didn't she stood firm.

Blackpelt growled, the rest of the pack growled with him, "omega! submit" She growled back, stunning them "I will not submit will to you, nor to any who try and use force, my will belong with Snowfur." Blackpelt glared at him "you earn name among pack? then betray it? what wolf are you?" Naruto squared his shoulders "my own wolf, I hunt and fight only for Dirtsnout now."

Blackpelt glanced at her "what wolf would take such creature for mate, a lowly omega, who is deformed, she is not well, not fit to bring pups." Naruto growled "do not speak of her in such ways." Blackpelt bristled "how dare you, I bring you food, save your life, you betray me? by invading my pack, and taking my kin?" Naruto shook his head "you were to leave her to death, not long before, now you admit kin she is? too late for claim's now, your kin I claim as my mate, stand aside and let us pass, deer of our hunt we will give."

Blackpelt growled "you have no right!" Naruto stepped forward bringing himself to full height, his aura and his presnse of the proud and defiant Wolfheart the demon Anbu of Konoha infused about him. He spoke his voice commanding, Blackpelt actually shrunk from it. He spoke "I have every right, I was alpha who lost pack, but now with Dirtsnout a new one I shall claim!"

Blackpelt growled and snapped, he would not be shown up by some young pup! He set himself upon Snowfur the two wolves met in battle, a flurry of fur and fangs flahing into the night. They tore and snapped at each other, tugging and pulling each other this way and that, trying to over power the other. Blackpelt managed to get Snowfur's ear in his jaws, biting it and ripping a small portion from the top.

He howled in agony, then suddenly Blackpelt felt a presence that pushed him back. Then Snowfur's jaws were aorund his neck, as he lay in the dirt his back in the position of an omega. Blackpelt was in awe, few wolves had ever gotten him to his back. He lay and waited for his life to be taken. But it did not come. Instead with a final growl Snowfur let go.

He backed away "I leave now, Dirtsnout with me go, good-bye alpha Blackpelt, may your hunts be fruitful"

* * *

The two wolves then ran off into the night, their bellies full and their hearts light. They ran beside each other taking comfort in each other, as the stars appeared and lighted their path, Naruto lead them towards home, a place he had not been in such a long while. Naruto glanced up at the stars and moon and he new, he just knew that his students were up there somewhere, looking down upon him and they were happy that he was finally going back home.

* * *

**So yeah, that is what I have, I hope you enjoyed.**

**From**

**The Forsaken Author of the Lost Story...T.F.A.O.T.L.S.**

**NSW**


	54. My reason

**Life As A Fox**

**Chapter 53**

**NSW-The Forsaken Author of the Lost Story (see my bio for explanation)**

* * *

Naruto slowly filtered through his dreams and awoke in the early morning. He opened his eyes and looked to his side where Dirtsnout lay next to him, they had curled up and slept next to each other in a small pile of pine needles and leaves. He yawned as he slowly got up and steched, she stirred and turned towards him. "You awake early?" He nodded "Yes, we have a long ways to go to get to Konoha."

She shook herself and got up "Konoha...is name of home correct?" He nodded "how far away?" Naruto looked up "well we will have to go around the valley, I am not going through that pass again." She nodded "listen, Dirtsnout, when we get there, I need you to know something." he said turning to her "everyone there, well...I am called by many names, Wolfheart, Fluffy...but my real name, it is Naruto."

She stared at him in amazement "you must have done many a great thing to earn all those names" Naruto smirked "yes, I have, I just want you to know these things, so when we get there you will not be confused." She nodded "thank-you my love, now come let us travel, we have a long way to go." Naruto stopped her "wait, Dirtsnout, when we go there and I introduce you, I don't want to call you by that name, that name is something no one should have for a name."

She looked to him "I would gladly answer to any name, as long as you are the one who says it." He nodded "yes, but why not choose your own name?" She thought about it then shook her head "if it not for you, name would still be the same, you changed me, so you may name me, answer to it I will gladly." Naruto thought for a long time, this was hard, he was naming the one he loved.

Many names came to his mind, but all of them seemed wrong, they just didn't fit her, when he saw her, truly saw her for the first time, she was like a dream, emerging from the mist, she was constantly changing and becoming something different. It was then the name hit him "Yume" he said out loud. She perked her ears up "Yume?" she asked he nodded, "it means dream in human tongue, do you accept it?"

She smiled "yes, yes I do" He leaned forward and licked her muzzle passionately. She nipped at him playfully, finally they split apart from each other and continued on.

* * *

The days went by endlessly, all of them the same. They would hunt as they trotted towards home, going the long way around, it took many days just to reach the first valley where the pack called home. The pack had not bothered them, though they heard the pack howl each night, they were more and more distant, Naruto was content with this.

Naruto and Yume though didn't always walk towards home, sometimes they would spend the day just dozing and basking in each others company, sometimes Naruto would help train her. Each day she got more and more better with chakra skills, although she would never have a large supply of chakra, Naruto noted that her deformity although had made her legs and muzzle longer, it had made her chakra coil smaller.

So she would have to learn to control it and use every ounce of it wisely. Naruto had spoken to her about his students, and talked about Hinata, and Kiba and everyone else. Even telling her about all his adventures with Gomeg and with the Anbu. Some of the words were still far from her grasp of understanding, but each day she was getting better.

Yume would listen to him attentively and did everything to the best of her ability. He didn't care if she didn't get something right away, he never did. He didn't care what they talked about, or what they hunted, or what they ate, as long as he was with her. Every night they curled up beside each other and he would tell her of stories and legends of Ninja of old, things he had fallen asleep to when he was with Jeriyah.

He told her about all his sensei's and all the things he did, although he never got to the point of telling her he was once a human, he didn't know how she would respond, or what her reaction would be, and he didn't see it as being important. He was a wolf now and he wasn't ever going to be anything else. Sometimes he would pause between stories and just bury his muzzle in her soft fur, breathing in her scent.

She leaned against him "you have so many stories, so many adventures, and what do I have? I can only tell you of hardships and how to raise pups, how to be the best submissive omega there is" Naruto nuzzled her "don't worry, once we get there, you and I can make our own stories and our own adventures." She nodded "I never thought of having a mate, it seemed impossible, and now...when you are here beside me, and your heart is beating next to mine...I imagine that nothing is impossible, not when you here."

He nodded and licked behind her ear, a place she liked. She shied away but secretly enjoyed it. She turned to him and began to lick his forhead and face, her soft warm tongue bathing his skin. He sighed and lay content "Naruto" she spoke suddenly "yes?" he asked "when are we to have pups?" Naruto snapped his eyes open and stared at her, a jolt though his body.

She cocked her head, "I...uh...um...well...I" he stuttered not knowing what to say, he had never really thought...about anything...like _that. _He didn't even know if he could manage it...or go about accomplishing it. He blushed at the thought. "When we are ready" he said after a long while. She smiled and licked his muzzle "I know that I can be a great mother and you a great father, but you are right, let us wait until home we reach."

He smiled and licked her one last time before watching her sleep he stayed awake thinking. He sighed softly 'I want to give her everything, and she is right we can be good parents...but...I HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO DO..._IT! _He screamed in his mind. He knew that a man and a women got together and...joined, and if the timing was right a baby came out of it, that much he knew, he knew there was various...positions and ways, but he had no idea how to act any of them out, or how or where he was supposed to go...and that was when he was human!

He glanced at Yume, his eyes wandered up and down her sleeping form, 'how am I going to make her happy when...the time comes? I don't even know if my...parts...work in that way.' He thought to himself before slipping off into sleep 'course being a father would be nice, and seeing her happy with pups of her own as well' was his last thought.

* * *

They walked easily, they were back in the first valley, the heat of the summer was scorching so they took many breaks. Resting in the shade of trees and leaping into pools when they came across them. Naruto and Yume were practicing some human words even though Naruto had told her that the human tongue is instinct of demons and would come to her easily.

She still wanted to practice so she wouldn't make a fool of herself. Naruto had assured her that she would never make a fool out of herself, she was too perfect. They walked without paying attention to surroundings. Naruto was always concentrating on her, wanting to put all his attention to her.

Naruto though heard small scrabbling within the brush near by, at first he paid no heed to it, passing it off as a random wood-land creature gathering food or making a nest. But then he heard two little growls and grunts, and suddenly two little bear cubs rolled out of the brush, playing and swatting at each other.

Yume laughed at their cute antics, they stared at Naruto and Yume, the larger of the two began to slowly creep forward. Sniffing as he did, the smaller hiding behind him. The cub was a few steps away then made three gruff huffing whines then gathered up a small bundle of courage and quickly reached a paw forward and touched Naruto with his tiny claws.

Naruto did nothing he only laughed, which startled the cub. The cub flew backwards tripping over his sibling, they landed in a small heap of fluff and small growls, stumbling over each other and themselves. One gave out a small cry of pain when the other stepped on his paw. Then He heard the roar and shaking of the bushes as the mother responded to the sharp cry of her child in pain.

The roar was angry and vengeful as she swung her massive head towards them, her beady eyes sighting in on the ones who caused her cubs pain. Naruto instinctively put himself in-between the bear and Yume. He growled defiantly, nothing would harm his mate. Yume stood next to him growling as well, even though he knew she was afraid, it was a large bear and she protecting her cubs. She ran at them. Naruto ran forward it was time to fight for what meant most to him.

Creating five clones he swarmed the bear, creating his wolf armor on each one. With chakra he created his 'Wolf jaws' and clamped down on the bear then with all his might he dragged the bear. The bear tossed and screamed about, this un-earthly creature was beating her so easily. The only thing she could do was somehow escape and get to her cubs and get away.

She did this, the moment Naruto had let go, The bear ran not knowing of how to deal with such a strange creature. She gathered her cubs and bolted into the brush. But before she did so she made one last quick pass at the wolves, striking the female on the shoulder, the female however managed to dodge most of the blow.

Naruto was upon the hackles of the bear, chasing her as she retreated away ushering her cubs before her. Naruto ran back to Yume to check her wound, she licked at it, he licked her reassuring and in apology. He spoke to her "lie down, let me fix this" She did as he suggested.

She whimpered as she did so Naruto leaned over her, the gently placed a paw on the wound trying not to cause pain, then he closed his eyes, he only received basic medical training in the Anbu, enough to heal this type of wound thank-fully, he calmed his breathing then flared his chakra outward form his paw, consuming the wound and mending it slowly.

He rose standing there panting from exertion. He released his clones then looked to Yume she stared at him. Then she slowly rose looking to her shoulder in amazement, "you heal my wound? is there anything you cannot do?" Naruto shook his head "no there are numerous things that I can't do."

Yume shook her head, "I don't believe you, you seem to be able to do so much especially in combat!" I have never laid eyes on a more beautiful battle! you are amazing with your chakra, never could I do so much so quickly!"

She licked his muzzle and face in overjoyed fervor. Naruto leaned into her and rubbed against her "I am glad you liked it, I did it for you, no one lays a claw on my mate" She grinned "and yet I feel so terrible, I can only stand by and watch, I can never help...I am like an omega to you, useless" He placed his nose right against her's drawing her eyes into his.

He spoke "know this, I fight the way I do, because you stand next to my side,_ you_ give me reason to live and to fight, _you_ are not useless because as long as you are by my side..." He trailed off then looked deeper into her eyes "It doesn't matter if you are fighting or not, I will always love you and I will always fight for you." He then stepped forward and wrapped his head around her neck, giving her a hug that only wolves could do.

Yume nodded and buried her muzzle into his chest loving the strong sense of security and warmth that radiated from it. She broke from him "I may not fight well, but I will discover a way to be able to give you more then just a reason for fighting." He grinned and licked her ear "I can't wait to see."

She grinned and playfully nipped him then lead him on a chase as they ran about, nipping each other then chasing each other in their own version of tag.

* * *

Hinata chuckled as Hime played with her food, mashing it about and creating a messy artwork of food upon her stand, Hime was laughing as well. Hinata kissed the child on the head. Hime accidently knocked over her sippy cup. Hime glanced at it and extended an arm down thinking she might pick it up from the floor from her high stand, she gave up then she turned her precious little face to Hinata then spoke, her first word "ma-ma."

Hinata squealed and hugged her daughter tightly, and tried to encourage more words from the child. But ma-ma and da-da were all at the moment. Even so, both parents where so happy and proud they forgot about their troubles in the world.

* * *

A couple weeks later, Hinata and Kiba were out in the back-yard, trying to teach Hime to walk, she was just beginning to take her first steps. She was wearing a little fur coat that copied what her father once used to wear only it was in a light shade of pink. Kiba set her upon Akamaru and slowly Akamaru would walk around with little Hime upon his back, he barked and excitedly wagged his tail.

Hime when she wasn't riding Akamaru was playing upon him or crawling/walking after him. Akamaru lolled about and lay in the grass his tongue sticking from the side of his mouth. Hinata laughed and nuzzled into Kiba's side. A crisp wind blew and she shivered, then a red leaf fell on her head from the tree above them, "yay, fall is almost here, it is my favorite time."

Kiba grinned "I know, you like to colors." Hinata nodded and reached up and grabbed the leaf from her hair, twirling it about, she dropped it. The leaf made a casual decent to the ground, it seemed so alone, a small red leaf in a sea of green. But another one joined it, an orange one, the color sparked memory of Naruto.

It was then he heart clenched in her chest as she realized it would be almost a year since that mission, she also realized her daughter would be a year old in only two more months, Naruto has been missing for almost ten months, he has almost been gone for a year. She suddenly buried her head into Kiba's chest, he turned to her "what's wrong?" he asked suddenly "ten months" was all she said.

* * *

**Okay, so that is what I have so far, I hope you enjoyed. **

**NSW**


	55. What Child is This?

**Life As A Fox**

**Chapter 54**

**NSW-The Forsaken Author of the Lost Story (see my bio for explanation)**

* * *

Hinata gently put Hime to bed. Hinata smiled down at her daughter, she had grown so much. Already her hair began to fan out into wild spikes like her fathers. She gently slept while holding her favorite stuffed animal, a little horse that she had day in and day out since she turned three months old. Hinata leaned over and turned on the pale pink night light that cast images of revolving stars and moons across the ceiling and walls of the room.

Hinata went over to the window and glanced out at the beautiful calm night. Hinata sighed happily then padded out of the room, she made one last glance to her daughter before retiring to bed. She yawned and relaxed slowly into her blankets they crumpled as she began to situate herself in them. She was all alone tonight, Kiba was away on an overnight mission both he and Akamaru so it was just her and Hime.

She was about to go to sleep when she had a premonition that something wasn't right. She sat up and listened to the sounds of the house, it remained mostly silent. She walked down the hall way hestitently, something was knawing at her, she knew something was up. She looked into Hime's room, Hime was sound asleep. Hinata closed the door, then continued her scan of the house, she walked by the pictures in the hall-way, she stopped at her wedding picture.

She looked at it then gently placed her fingers on the glass over Naruto's image. "Where are you?" she asked it silently, as if expecting it to answer back to her. She brought her hand down and continued into the living room. She felt her stomach spin nervously, something was very wrong, her hairs on the back of her neck rose.

She continued on slowly, then she heard a small keening sound. It sent her on edge and she froze, but then she realized it was the pot of tea she had forgotten on the stove. She laughed out-loud despite of herself and went into the kitchen quickly and grabbed the pot. She placed it to the side, no longer in the mood for tea she began to pour it into a container to be used later.

She cleaned everything up then shut-off the kitchen light and went back to the bedroom. She couldn't beleive she was so over edge about a tea pot. The floor boards creaking beneath her. She glanced out in the living room, and saw a small flicker near the window. The curtain was moving. She walked towards it. She gently placed her fingers and captured the soft fabric. She wondered why it was moving, then felt the chilly autumn air seeping through a crack.

The door was just slightly ajar she pursed her lips, that was weird. She shut the door fully and locked it. She looked out on the lawn the wind blew a few leaves from the tree, they swirled about rapidly. The branches moved with the wind, they looked like small hands to her, small gnarled hands beckoning to her, or maybe even warning her with their eerie creepy features.

She felt a sudden pain in her back, she gasped. It spread from a small pin-point of pain and spread outwards. She turned around wildly. She opened her mouth to speak, but her body suddenly shuddered all at once. As all the blood in her veins chilled. She looked up dizzily to a man with long silver hair and one eye. He grinned down at her "To bad your cursed wolf is not here, I would have loved to kill him and make him join the petty children he had lead against us."

Hinata wanted to scream, wanted to fight, wanted to do something, but her body had already collapsed and she hit the floor her body thudding cruelly against it.

* * *

It was hours before Hinata could awake, she bolted up, her body still sluggish form the affects of the poision or medication, she went for the one thing that mattered in the house. Dragging herself across the floor by her fingers she clawed her way to her daughter like a beast. She managed to stagger to her feet by bracing herself against the door frame.

She staggered into the room, falling and catching herself on the crib. She looked in and futilely pushed her hand down to feel every corner of the crib, making sure of the worst thing in the world, that her daughter was not sleeping in it. She whirled about and scanned every inch of that room, then scoured the house. Once she was sure that her daughter was not in it's confines, she screamed.

* * *

When Kiba came home that next day, he came home to a house in complete disaster. Shikamaru, Neji and Lee were there. He heard a wailing in the background, he rushed to Hinata not knowing what was wrong. She was in Hime's room. Sitting on the floor hugging a stuffed animal to her chest. Kiba stood there not knowing what to do.

Sakura was next to her, comforting her or trying anyway. "what happened?" he exclaimed. Hinata spoke in between sob's "they ... took ... Hime... they ... took ...our little...g-girl" she said her voice cracking and breaking down into gut wrenching sobs. Kiba collaped next to her, "who? who?" he asked. Hinata shook her head "I don't know, a man with only one eye...and silver hair"

Kiba growled he felt angry, how dare someone break into his house and take his precious girl! How dare they do such things to his family! He wanted to go and couse pain, he wanted to go and hurt them for attacking his wife and taking his precious child. The blood lust rose up violently, as his pupils turned into slits, his lips drew back and his slightly indented canines that every member of his clan possessed revealed themselves. But Sakura spoke "Kiba, she needs you to be here, not for you to go for revenge" Just as his anger had risen swiftly, it had went away at the same speed, he relaxed, knowing Sakura was right, he reached down for Hinata and collapsed next to her he then held and rocked Hinata slowly, crying as he did.

* * *

Kakashi had took a report from Hinata, (once they could calm her down.) Kakashi was going to go and talk to the Hyuuga clan and see if they had anything behind this. Kakashi ordered a search of the entire Hyuuga grounds. They scoured every inch of the place, and found nothing. They had to call it clean and walk away even though in Kakashi's gut he knew they were behind this somehow.

But he couldn't convict them or anything without evidence, so the trail was cold for now, but they were not going to give up. He issued posters and warning's and even offered a reward for her return, but even with all that, there was a silence, it seemed as though the world had turned a blind eye to the kidnapped child.

* * *

Hanabi cursed and slapped one of her hand maids about, enjoying watching the frail creature hit the floor, blood spouting from her nose. The shaking girl however got back up and continued to her duties. Hanabi smirked as she watched the girl bleed in the mirror. But she grew disgusted after a few seconds and ordered her away.

She then turned back to the letter that caused her the initial anger. '_The package shall remain with us until the proper price is met.' _That was it, nothing more, she swore and cursed, that damn greedy clan! She wanted to rip the paper to shreds right then and there and burn it but waited and threw it in disgust at another servant. "Take that to my father!" she said with one final shove, then she ordered a bath to be run, with the finest of mineral waters, then ordered for the rarest of petals to be placed in the water for her.

Hanabi soaked herself while a servant cleaned her hair and combed it out, another began to clean beneath her nails and message her fingers. Hanabi smiled as she looked about the marbled bathroom, and to it's dark stained wood doors and decorated windows. She breathed in the sent of the rare flower petals and relaxed, she ordered for wine, then put her head back, resting on a fine soft satin pillow that was used for such things.

Life as a Hyuuga was so grand, why would Hinata betray it for so called love? There was nothing better then wealth and power, when the wine came she sipped it slowly and relaxed even more. She suddenly grinned, it didn't matter, her precious sister was paying for it, her demon wolf that had convinced her to leave the clan was now gone, and now her daughter, she has to be almost shattered.

Hanabi chuckled at the thought of seeing her sister crumpled on the floor, sobbing and wailing like the pathetic creature she was. Hanabi chuckled even louder. Even if that stupid clan wanted more money, they deserved it for bringing this kind of amusement to her, but she knew father would never agree for such sum, although the child in the hands of the clan could be bad. She could grow up and breed within the clan, possibly making the byakugan even stronger with the Chen clans strange dojutsu.

Hanabi waved it from mind, if need be they could send the entire second branch after them and hunt them to extinction and return the child back to them, then again, why get the child back? It did not matter if she lived or died to Hanabi, it had served it's purpose, causing Hinata pain. Hanabi closed her eyes and set her wine down, she slowly let the warm water drift her to sleep.

* * *

That evening a few miles away from the village, two figures looked down upon it from a large hill. Yume turned to him "it is so large, how many?" she asked "a number that the wolves of the wild do not know, thousands upon thousands of them." Yume shrank back a little. "What is wrong?" he asked her. She shook and looked afraid, "I don't know if I can do this, I have learned so much from you Naruto, but still, the fears embedded in me by the pack...take hold of me."

Naruto licked her above the eye "you can do this, I will give you a hint, just look at the ground and keep moving your legs, that way you will move forward without even knowing where you are going, then you will bump into the main gate, and you will be there and your fear will be gone." Yume smiled softly at him "you are right, I am afraid Naruto, but not so afraid that I can't do this."

Naruto brushed against her "together we can get through anything, remember that." Yume nodded "very well, who will we visit?" Naruto grinned, "a fellow demon like ourselves, Gomeg." Yume literally squealed and nipped at him playfully, happy. Naruto and her rushed down the hill and began to run towards his home.

* * *

They snuck in a secret place that Naruto knew, entering Konoha by the secret underground passage ways of old. He wandered about, it had been sometime since he had been down here, but he followed the ancient wooden arrows that were set down here. He followed them until he reached a place, that he knew was wrong. It was then he remembered, as a small child when he had stolen the Hokage's official gown from the third Hokage he had turned the arrows in the wrong directions.

Naruto stood there and said quietly to himself "I tricked my future self...damn I am good" He sighed if that was correct he would have to go this way, he didn't need the arrows anyway, the memories of exploring these caverns were coming back to him. He headed down a path that was lit from above, since it also served as the drain system from the street, so the moon shone through the grates above them.

His ears pricked up as he caught the sound of voices. "I can't believe what misfortune they are having..." Naruto mostly ignored the voices until he heard the name Hinata. "She is such a beautiful person and soul, why would someone do such a thing? poor dear, if the gods are willing, maybe her child will be found." Naruto froze. He turned to the voices and listened.

"She was drugged, and then they took the child, I must say they were smart whoever did it, because if she was conscious, every last one of them would be beaten to a pulp." Naruto silenced a growl. "do they know who did it?" the man said nothing at first then spoke "no they do not, although Hinata was babbling about a man with silver hair and one eye." Naruto's heart literally stopped, his eyes widened.

Memories flashed brutally in front of his eyes, screams, blood spattering the snow, his students falling like leaves before him, then the figure of the man..._that _man. Anger welled up inside him. He began to growl, Yume shifted nervously beside him. She only had to look into his eyes, and his anger faded, her beautiful eyes, they calmed the storms of his heart. He turned away from her and led her off. He needed to speak to Gomeg.

* * *

Once they were underneath the Anbu head quarters they snuck in and headed for the medic ward, knowing that was were Gomeg stayed. Gomeg had claimed a back office, that was decorated with his odd assembly of peculiar objects he used for demon things. Horns of different animals, bones of strange beasts. Leaves giving off strange and bitter aromas, or flowers filling the room with their beautiful scents.

Naruto looked about no one was in the ward thank Kami, he stopped unsure of what to do or say, or how to introduce that he was back. But he didn't have to Gomegs voice came form the darkness "is that the scent of a long-lost fool of a friend?" Naruto sighed "a very large fool at that" he answered back. "But I also scent someone else, someone quite beautiful, and fair...and kind, someone who made the friend realize he was a fool possibly?"

Naruto grinned "yes, Gomeg, she is the one." Gomeg revealed himself, not much has changed since he last saw the badger. "Come to me my friend, it has been too long since we have been apart" Naruto walked forward and just as he was about to say something he was hit very hard over the head with Gomegs cane that he used to help him walk up right.

Naruto landed in a heap, Yume was unsure of what to do, she ran up beside Naruto and growled at Gomeg. Naruto spoke...somewhat "Yume ... you ... can,... ah ...stop...I kind...of deserved it." Yume did and began to lightly lick where he had been hit. Gomeg glared at him "You think? You big idiot! Leave the village without a word? No one knows where you are or if you are okay? Everyone worried sick! Some have assumed you dead!"

Naruto grunted as he stood back up "I know! okay? I know, I just...I had to go, It turns out the spirits of my students...they were leading me to...Yume, leading me to the one who would heal my broken heart." Gomeg stared at him he knew by the sound of his voice that Naruto was speaking the truth, Gomeg sighed, maybe such a thing was possible, who knows, all that mattered was that Naruto was back.

He spoke "I need to tell you something, it is about Hinata-" "I know, Hime had been kidnapped, by the Chen clan." Naruto spat. Gomeg nodded "yes, you know this?" Naruto spoke "we listened in on to villagers gossiping, the man with one eye and silver hair, he's the leader of the Chan clan." Gomeg was surprised, with the news of the one eye the Anbu was looking for other people.

Gomeg spoke "how do you know that the leader has only one eye?" Naruto was silent for a bit then he spoke "because I was the one who ripped it from him," Gomeg was silent. "Very...well" Gomeg continued "shall we go tell Mammoth of these things?" Naruto was silent then spoke "no, I must right some wrongs, we must leave now, if we wish to find Hime."

Before Gomeg could stop them Naruto and Yume had left, blast his old age. He scurried up to the office of Mammoth. He was up late doing forms once more. He actually was sleeping on said forms, snoring. Gomeg rapped him on the head with the cane. Mammoth shot up "what? what is it?" he said looking about, then he turned his eyes upon the badger that stood before him.

He narrowed his eyes "oh...you, what do you want?" Gomeg looked down for a few seconds "Wolfheart...has returned" Mammoth shot up "what? why didn't you tell me! where is he?" Gomeg continued "he has left again." Mammoth turned around slowly "he..left...again...WHY?" Gomeg glared up at him "don't take that tone of voice with me young-ling, and do not worry, Wolfheart is back to his old self, he found one he can confide in, the one who healed his broken heart and soul, he has found...Yume, and together they are going to save the Hime child."

Mammoth crumpled into his desk chair, "when shall we expect his return?" he said going about business. "Knowing Wolfheart...soon, so I suggest you figure out a way so that he is not imprisoned for abandoning the village." Mammoth nodded "I will speak with the Hokage." Gomeg nodded "I wish to go with you" Mammoth laughed "like I can stop you."

* * *

Kakashi was awoken late at night, he got up quickly and dressed even faster, being a ninja tends to have that affect on you. He quickly went to the door. Opening it, Mammoth stepped in accompanied by the always present Gomeg. "Mammoth, Gomeg" Kakashi said nodding to each in turn. He beckoned them in, they sat down.

Mammoth spoke bluntly "Wolfheart had returned a short while ago" Kakashi almost dropped the mug of coffee he was making he turned around "what? and I was not told?" Mammoth removed his mask, revealing an aged face, the years of stress on his body from the Anbu had turned his once un marred face into one of scars, wrinkles and worries.

Mammoth spoke "he had returned to speak with Gomeg, even I did not know until of recent hour." Kakashi nodded and turned to Gomeg. "well" he simply said. Gomeg turned to him, "he is healed of what happened to him, he now fairs much better now that he has found his soul mate." Kakashi did a double take "soul mate?!" Gomeg nodded "she healed his heart and soul, calmed his spirit, he has let go of what happened to the past, he no longer is haunted, he smiles once more."

Kakashi was relieved, he now knew that Naruto was okay. He thanked the gods that he prayed to. Kakashi turned to Mammoth next "where is he now?" Gomeg spoke "he left, again,however he has gone to rescue the child Hime, expect his arrival soon enough" Kakashi smiled beneath his mask, just like Naruto, just when you think you have him tagged he goes out and does something unexpected.

Kakashi shook his head "how does he know where she is? and who she is with?" Gomeg also spoke up "it was the Chen clan, we were detoured because Hinata spoke of a man with one eye, well...little did we know that the leader of the Chen clan had lost his eye recently, thanks to the fangs of our familiar wolf friend."

Kakashi was in awe, in a few brief seconds Naruto has given back almost all hope, with his return and the knowledge of who was behind this with Naruto's information. "I came to speak with you about the possibilities of what would happen to Wolfheart upon his return, the forsaking of the village for almost a year will not be kind upon him."

Kakashi nodded "yes, the laws of Konoha are very...strict, but if Wolfheart accomplishes this mission of his, it might bring favor back to him." Mammoth nodded "Also you need to think of the things he has not done while on his...well...leaving." Kakashi turned to him "how so?" Mammoth spoke "well...most people who are true traitors of the village, usually join a group of enemies and start trying to cause damage to the village, but from what Gomeg has told me on the way over here, Wolfheart mearly just went in search of peace."

Kakashi nodded "yes, he didn't really cause any harm to Konoha or anyone for that matter...he mostly just went off the map. So yes you are right that will also help him, since he did no damage to Konoha in his absence." Kakashi turned to Gomeg, "you met his...mate then?" Gomeg nodded "Yume was her name, very kind and caring soul, I sense great love between them, they are true soul mates, nothing could pull them apart, they share each others heart."

Kakashi nodded good this was good, he was happy that Naruto finally found someone. He turned back to coffee, "so what shall we do?" Gomeg spoke "let us not speak of anything till he returns, we can't reveal his return just yet, even though I know you wish to tell Hinata this." Kakashi nodded "yes, I do, but you have almost a hundred years on both of us, you might know a few things."

Gomeg grinned "these pups today, when did they learn to flatter?" Gomeg turned towards something in the kitchen "if that is what you humans call 'toffee cake' I gladly would like a piece." Kakashi turned to his kitchen counter 'how the HELL did he know that was there?' he thought to himself he turned to Gomeg, a knowing wry smile upon his aged lips.

* * *

Yume and Naruto ran away form the village "where shall we find the child?" Yume asked, Naruto turned to her "if Hime has been captured only a few days ago there still is a chance we can find them before they reach the main body of the clan again." Yume turned to him "where does the clan reside?" Naruto shrugged as he used his chakra and lept into the tree branches, running along them, Yume followed suit. "They wander about I think, their home was discovered."

Yume turned to him "if their home is discovered wouldn't they go back to it again?" Naruto paused "what?" he said turning to her. "It is like foxes" Yume said "when their home is discovered they will retreat to another place for a bit, then return back, no one expects them to go back to where they were discovered before, and in doing so they become invisible once more."

Naruto nodded it made sense, no one would expect them to be back there, not after it was found out, so no one would be looking for them there, which is why it would be the perfect place to hide. If Yume was right then, if they ran hard enough, he somewhat knew when they could meet up with the kidnapping party. He smirked he was glad he knew these woods, because that also meant he knew short-cuts.

* * *

**I hopes you enjoyed, I did. It was fun writing this**, **but many more chapters will follow. This story is not finished yet, not by a long shot. You may be wondering 'how? what more can she do?' Well that is for me to know and you to find out. ;)**

**NSW**


	56. A Friend

**Life As A Fox**

**Chapter 55**

**NSW-The Forsaken Author of the Lost Story (see my bio for explanation)**

* * *

Naruto and Yume ran and just as Yume had suggested they followed trail of semi-fresh scent. Over-confidence was their enemy's downfall once more. The Chen clan thought that Naruto was gone, never to return, they thought that no one had pinned them for the kidnapping. But they were wrong, and those few mistakes would be their last.

Naruto had caught up with the small kidnapping party around sunset on the third day. He scanned the people present, none of them were the man with one eye. Naruto sighed somewhat in disappointment and somewhat in relief. Had that man been there, there was no saying what he would do, his anger for that man burned hot.

Naruto turned to Yume, she was here and Naruto knew he couldn't risk hurting her, or worse. So he was going to have to do a quiet method - an in and out, grab-and dash-rescue. He turned to Yume "We wait." he said scanning until he saw the child. She was mostly oblivious to her surroundings, she had not yet realized just how much trouble she was in.

Naruto's heart softened at the sight of her, she had Kiba's wild mass of spikes, only in the color of Hinata's gentle lavender shade. She had light skin, darker then Hinata's but not as dark as Kiba, somewhere in the middle. Her face was still somewhat chubby of baby fat, but she could see her mothers sharp jaw and her fathers smooth cheekbones.

He could see already that she had Hinata's eyes, he assumed it was because of these the child was in trouble. He waited patiantly for the men to fall asleep. One by one they did, posting no sentry or guard. Hime was secured by a rope tied around her waist and attached to the ankle of a man while he slept. They did this to make sure the child did not slip away into the night.

* * *

Naruto, favoring the stealthy approach, slipped into the thicket of men sleeping around a dying fire. When he got to Hime, he quickly placed a silencing jutsu on the child, broke the cord that attached her to the man, and then woke Hime. Hime looked up at him in confusion. She was tired and cranky; so she soon began to cry silently.

Naruto gritted his teeth and kept prodding her towards the woods, wiping away his tracks with his tail as he did so. He joined up with Yume who had waited anxiously for him. Once Hime was safe within the trees, Naruto had laid down so Yume could place Hime upon his back. Then they slowly began to creep away - Naruto being extra-careful lest Hime fall off of him.

They traveled for most of the night, trying to put as much distance between them and the men as they could. Naruto and Yume, however, had to stop because Hime began to get cranky and wanted 'off'. Naruto let her off she spoke "Foo-foo." she said. Naruto glanced to Yume "What does she want?" Yume asked. "Food, I...think." he said looking to Hime.

Naruto turned back to Yume "Watch her, I will find food." Naruto traveled out and luckily was able to catch sight of a rabbit, and quickly began to stalk it. He caught it before it could move and brought it back to them. He started a fire with a little fire-chakra then, skinned and gutted the rabbit, placing it upon a spit and began to cook it.

"WHAT...ARE...YOU DOING TO THE FOOD?!" Yume screamed. scaring Naruto.

Naruto almost dropped the rabbit into the fire, he turned to her "Humans cook their food Yume, I am cooking it." Yume stared at him in horror "You are ruining it! it cannot be eaten now!" Naruto smirked. "Just you wait." Naruto said to her. After it was cooked, he placed it in front of Hime, she stared at it. She did nothing but she must have been hungry enough because soon her hand reached out and grabbed the end of the spit; she began to eat.

She ate until she was satisfied then became disinterested with the food, which Naruto and Yume gladly ate (Yume admitted that cooked food was very good). They both then curled up around Hime. They did this both to keep her warm and also to make sure if she did tried to get away she would have to crawl over Yume or Naruto to do so - waking them up.

* * *

The man slowly awoke, it was surprising he had a one year old at home, and he would always wake up at least once a night. He got up and yawned stretching, he looked down upon his ankle to where the cord is. He followed it lazily with his eyes, it ended curling into the dust. He just stared at it, obviously it was broken and this should alarm him.

But he had just awoken from the first good sleep he got in a long while. He fuzzily began to put together two and two quickly in his head while his brain caught up to him. "Fuck! she's gone!" he exclaimed. The others snapped awake at his outburst. They ran over to him, stumbling over their blankets. He got up they all looked at the cord then looked about "Where the hell could she have gone?" They spanned out and began to look for her.

After many hours they all joined back, hoping for something. "Anything?" the one man asked, getting desperate. They shook their heads "Nothing, it's like she was picked up by the wind and carried away." They shook their heads "How the HELL could she have vanished like that?" They grew silent "We couldn't find anything in a mile radius."

They all turned to the dead fire and stared into it's ashes. "So...what do we do now?" the man asked "I don't know, I guess...we have to return to Tekeshi" With the thought all of them shuddered "But...he..he...ah crap...were dead." With an affirmative nod the others sadly agreed.

* * *

Naruto and Yume awoke the next day, and once again convinced Hime to ride upon Naruto's back which she enjoyed greatly. She happily called out loudly and squealed with glee: "Fwuff-Fwuff!" Naruto had stopped and stared at Yume "What is it?" she asked "She...she has her mother's ability...at naming things." he said then sighed in defeat. Yume chuckled and licked his muzzle "Come, we are two days time from the village".

Naruto nodded and they continued, their pace slow because they had to stop and hunt for Hime and hunt for themselves, then find a place to sleep and convince Hime to do such things. Naruto and Yume would drop to the ground dead tired each day, who knew a child could be such a handful? Yume spoke one time "Naruto...I think I would like to wait on having pups." Naruto turned to her "Agreed."

Yume then asked suddenly "What are you doing with her...leavings?" Naruto sighed "Well...I um...I can mostly tell when she needs to go, then I take her and find a stump or dig a hole, then set her down in it, and wait for the business to be done then...clean her with leaves." Yume stared at him "Ah...wait they need to be cleaned?" Naruto nodded "They can't...well...wipe themselves like we do sometimes."

Yume shook her head "Human pups are very high-maintenance." Naruto nodded "I know...now let us sleep...Yu-Yu" he said using the pet name Hime had given her, Yume snapped at him playfully.

* * *

In darkness they stood, looking over Konoha, Hime slept easily in a pile of bedded-down leaves and moss. Yume laid next to her, keeping her warm. Naruto turned to her "I must do it this way. Await for me my love." Yume and him licked each other good-bye then Naruto crept into the village.

In the dead of night he stole himself away into a old familiar place, his father's house. He found the store of ink and paper that was hidden there, then painstakingly began to write a note for Hinata. After that he snuck over to another familiar place: Hinata and Kiba's. They were sleeping he knew by the sound of their breathing. Naruto shivered, it was weird being back in this place after so long.

So much had changed but also stayed the same - his pictures were there. They were just pushed aside and to the back as other pictures of Hinata, Kiba and Hime were placed there. Naruto sighed and gently laid the note on the table. Akamaru had awoken, and started to growl; but Naruto silenced him. Akamaru hopped up and began to lick him, he had missed his old friend.

Naruto calmed him down and told him to go back to sleep, Akamaru whined "just do it" he said, Akamaru huffed and did so, curling his large mass onto his pillow. Naruto then left, returning back to Yume's side.

* * *

Hinata had awoken, she was still lost at what to do, but she had to somehow get through this, they had to have hope. She went into the kitchen, wanting tea to soothe her nerves. A note was laid on the table. "K- Kiba!" she yelled. Kiba was up and running down the hall to her "What? what is it?!" he asked, she nodded to the note.

He glanced at it, then picked it up and opened it slowly "It's...for you" he said then handed it to her. Hinata wiped her hands and grabbed the note lightly. She then read the following:

_Dear Hinata,_

_Your child is safe, she is awaiting for you three miles North of Konoha front gates. There is a large hill there with a very old fir tree next to an outcrop of rocks, she will be waiting for you there. Please bring only yourselves and closest friends, no one of notable status or rank should attend, it would make things...difficult for explanation._

_I will be waiting with her, you have nothing to fear, she has not come to harm. However, she is quite hungry. (We have fed her to the best of our ability, but she is a bottomless pit.) She also needs new clothes, and a bath, but most importantly her mother and father, please come quickly._

_From,_

_A friend._

Hinata had read the note and clutched it to her chest, happiness overwhelming her. "We need to go!" she said to Kiba. "Pack a bag, get food, and clothes for Hime! Then go get everyone!" Kiba stared at her "What...are we doing?! Whats going on?!" Hinata hugged him, glowing. "Hime is safe, we have a friend waiting with her!" Kiba was excited, the thought of his child safe once again in his arms, outranked the thought of possibility this could be a trap.

Kiba and Hinata quickly got together the gear then raced to the friends they trusted most. Shikamaru and Neji joined just because of the fact they wanted to make sure it wasn't a trap. Sakura and Lee came along as well, both a medic and another ninja to protect them if it was a trap. Hinata and Kiba raced ahead at the lead, those three miles seemed to be the longest ever.

* * *

**Holy crap I did it, I got that down, wouldn't you know the first time I wrote this, my computer didn't save it so I had to re-do it. It took awhile but I did. Now I haven't eaten and I am tired please read, and PLEASE REVIEW? I FEEL LIKE NO ONE IS READING, I NEED MORE IMPUT, I DON'T CARE IF IT'S A BAD ONE, JUST ONE...PLEASE?**

**NSW**


	57. Reunion

Life As A Fox

Chapter 56

NSW-The Forsaken Author of the Lost Story (see my bio for explanation)

(Thank you so much for the reviews by the way! They really give me motivation to get chapters done!)

* * *

Hinata burst through the trees, the rest of them landing with dull thuds behind her as they stood - they were exactly where the note said to be. Hinata looked around, wildly scanning everything for sign of Hime. She couldn't see her. She was about to cry out when a voice spoke: "Be not afraid, she is here. I just wanted to make sure you brought along only friends."

Hinata whirled about. Where was that voice coming from? It sounded deep and rugged, as if it hadn't been used in a long time. Hinata called out "Where is she? Where is my daughter?!" She yelled, still turning around. The others turned to where she was looking. "She is right behind you" the voice said. Hinata turned slowly and there, in the place that was empty all but a few moments ago, sat her precious child.

Hime looked up. She was dirty and scruffy, but she was alive and well. She noticed Hinata and beamed. "Ma-ma!" she screamed. Hinata rushed for her and hugged her tightly, crying as she did. Her heart soared and beat like a drum, she was overwhelmed with happiness. Kiba had joined her as well, and both parents cried over their child.

Finally they parted "Are you still there? Who are you?" Hinata asked. There was a silence Hinata thought for a second he had left. Then he spoke once more "I am still here, Hinata." Hinata rose "You know my name... how?" she said standing up "I know all your names, Kiba, Lee, Shikamaru, Neji, Sakura, even little Hime, though I never got to know her. My mind back then was...troubled."

Hinata was confused. Finally the voice sighed "I should not have left, I did many terrible things, and said even worse insults to all of you, I feel like I do not deserve to call you friends and this place a home, but I hope by me saving Hime, I have regained some of my former honor." Then like that, he stepped out from behind the rocks.

* * *

He stood in the morning light, the rays bouncing off of his fur. His glowing blue eyes, matching the sky behind him. When she saw him, she knew he was healed, he had no trace of pain upon him. He did not bear a burden of sadness or guilt, he moved with a noble grace, an aura of peace around him. He stepped forward, and on closer inspection she noted that he had a few more scars, a small shred of his left ear had been taken, but his body had filled out.

He had hardened, sinewy muscles rippling underneath that sleek, thick, familiar coat. Hinata's heart stopped and then beat with joy. She took a step forward. "Naruto." she said. Naruto nodded "I have come to claim that name...if you would have me bear it once more?" Hinata began to cry even harder, she ran to him and hugged him tightly.

Hinata took in his scent, he smelled like pine trees and mountain air. She felt so relieved, he was safe and alive. Her joy satisfied, she then leaned back and slapped him. He went rolling in the dust his eyes swirls. She yelled "Don't you ever do that to me ever again! I was worried sick! All of us were! You do that again and I swear to the god's I will hurt you!"

Naruto staggered back up "I deserved that" he said sadly. Hinata couldn't be angry anymore, she nodded. "Excuse me human...Hinata, but I am afraid I would not let you get anywhere near my mate the next time. I only refrained from attacking because Naruto had warned me prior that you would do such a thing." Hinata and the rest of them turned on a swivel as they looked over.

The voice came from a creature that stood a few feet away, she looked like a wolf, only she had long legs and an oddly shaped muzzle. Hinata had to admit though, she held captivating green eyes. Her fur was a tan brown, like sand. She trotted over quickly to Naruto. Naruto got up as she approached and, his eyes sparkling, stood proudly next to her.

* * *

He turned to them. "Everyone, I want you to meet someone very special to me...this is Yume, she is the one who saved me, this is my mate." There was a collective group of gasps. Naruto grinned and licked her cheek; Yume smiled herself and seemed to blush. There was a silence. "So...what happened?" Shikamaru finally asked.

It was basically the question all of them wanted to ask but didn't know how. Naruto smirked "It is a long story, let us go over to the shade of nearby tree and speak of what has happened." Hinata was a little confused, Naruto spoke somewhat differently, just the way he weaved his words together, they seemed almost...primal.

They followed. It was awkward but they wanted to know, so they all sat down - trying to get comfortable. Kiba and Hinata quickly got to washing Hime to the best of their ability at the moment and feeding the child. Hinata asked "What have you been feeding her?" Naruto flicked his eat "Mostly rabbit and squirrel, cooked of course." Yume spoke next, she had a nice voice. "The child demanded much of us. We are glad you are here to feed your pup, it was growing tiresome to hunt so often."

Naruto nodded "But it was worth it - right dear? To see parents reunited with child?" Yume nodded. "Of course my love, oh yes, I have a surprise for you." She then went behind the tree and came back with a rabbit. Naruto grinned "When did you manage to catch that?" Yume grinned back. "When you were watching the child, I hunted for us, knowing we would be needing food and break after so long."

Naruto licked her forehead, his tail wagging and Yume nuzzled up to him. Hinata was surprised, they acted like newly-weds - using pet names, and constantly touching and...licking one another. "So...you were explaining?" Shikamaru said interrupting them. Naruto turned "Ah, yes, well...about what happened at that...party, I am greatly sorry I did not attend Neji, I hope it was a splendid day and wedding."

Neji nodded "It was, and...thank-you...I guess" Naruto continued "I first traveled to Gin's grave. I stayed there for quite awhile before I came to the resolve to go and bury my other students." The others widened their eyes at such a thought. Naruto continued, "I did so, it was terrible...their bodies...had...decayed some...but I managed" Naruto shook his head and shuddered.

Yume whined and nudged him with her muzzle; Naruto stopped and looked into her eyes. Then he smiled softly and nudged her back. "I am okay, I can do this." he said to her. Yume nodded.

Naruto spoke once more. "But after I found out that...that cursed clan had left my students to rot while they laid their own to rest...I was taken by a sudden urge for revenge...but I stopped myself. It was then I realized that I needed time to think...So I wondered far and long, until the point my body could not carry me any longer...and that is when...fate led me to Yume."

Yume blushed and spoke. "He is being modest. Before I was Yume, I was but a regular wolf: Dirtsnout, omega of pack. Then he came along, and awoke my dormant powers. I began to open my eyes and become demon wolf like he; and then began to join with him. Now we have become mated pair, destined to be together so for rest of our lives." Naruto smiled "Even forever would not be long enough." he said softly.

She nipped him playfully "Now, now my love, let me speak." Naruto did so. She turned back to them. "Naruto saved me from the pack, then I saved him...from his past. Together we healed each other and mended each others souls. I know little of what happened, I know little of all of you, but I know in my heart that Naruto see's you as his family, as his pack; and here he stands waiting...for you to accept him back. My question is: will you?"

Hinata was taken aback, Yume was so blunt, she got right to the point. Few people knew how to do such things, everyone always tiptoed around subjects, and didn't ask things for fear of hurting feelings, but not Yume. It was a welcomed exception, sometimes things just needed to be said. Feelings might be hurt and people might not like you for it, but as long as the truth was said, life was better.

Hinata spoke "Of course, Naruto is always welcome. This is his home, he might have gotten lost, and forgotten who he was, but we will always accept him home. He only needs to ask of it." Naruto stepped forward his ears folded back and his tail tucked beneath his legs. "Hinata...can I come home?" he asked simply. Hinata began to cry - it was so sweet, "Yes...yes you can."

Hinata then wrapped her arms around him. They hugged for a long time before Naruto finally backed away, tears falling from his eyes. "Thank-you Hinata, thank-you." Hinata nodded. "Naruto we love you." Naruto nodded "I know...I just didn't realize it until it was too late." Hinata smiled "Better late than never." Naruto gave his grin. "Thank-you, thank-you all of you. I know I have much to make up, but I am going to start right away, and I am not going to back down, or run away. I am going to stand and stay with you all to the end, that is my promise."

Sakura leaped up and hugged him. "You're back, you...really are back." One by one the others got their hugs. Naruto stepped back. "Yume my sweet, this is my family, which means they are yours as well. Can you be okay with that?" he asked her. It was silent as all of them turned to her. Yume looked about. "I have known many stories of humans, when I was living in a pack, of their hate and their pain they could bring, but when I stand here, I sense none of this. You are good and kind, I will gladly call you my family if you would gladly accept me...despite my-"

Naruto cut her off "If you say that you are deformed one more time, my Yu-yu, I will bite that fluffy cute tail of yours off." Yume gasped and blushed. Naruto grinned, then licked her on the cheek. She spoke "Naruto, down my love. I need to hear their answer." Naruto stepped away. Sakura spoke "We accept you and we thank-you Yume. I don't know how you did it, but you managed to convince him to be happy once more, and I am glad of it"

Yume nodded "Yes, his head is like that of a moose, big and tough and nothing can seem to break through it." Naruto blushed that time. "When did you get so good with your words?" Naruto asked Yume grinned "I learned from you." Naruto laughed "Yes well it shows" he said. All of them began to laugh, the pair was quite comical together.

Naruto grinned "I am glad to hear laughter once more, and your voices...they have been missed greatly." Shikamaru spoke "Okay what's up with the talking, you sound very...polite and...I don't know...it's just different." Naruto shrugged "Life in the pack, I lived with them a long time. I guess...I haven't gotten used to speaking human after so long."

Yume leaned down and grabbed the rabbit. "Well, that's nice, I feed." Naruto bent his head down as well "Save the heart for me, you know I like that." Yume said something but with rabbit in her mouth it was unintelligible. Shikamaru and the others began to get slightly green around the gills, but little Hime got up. "Foo-foo!" she said, and quickly tottered over to Naruto and Yume.

Naruto looked up, his muzzle bloody. "No Hime, this isn't cooked, this is our food, go to your mother for your food." Hime looked at him. "Fwuf-fwuff? Foo-foo?" she asked again. Naruto sighed. He looked to Yume, "You know...I am tempted to go hunt a deer to feed this child." Yume nodded ripping intestines out, "I think a bear would last us longer, how do you humans keep up with your pup's demands?" She asked Kiba, who was picking Hime up.

Kiba sat down with her and brought food out "We...just go to the store and get stuff." Yume glanced to Naruto for an explanation. "What he means is, that human are like...squirrels, they store a bunch of food, then whenever they want...they just go get it." Yume nodded "I see...they must have large stores." Naruto nodded "Huge, the entire...pack...of Konoha, has several stores that they share."

Yume gaped at him "All of those within that...wall?" Naruto nodded, then cracked open the rabbit's rib-cage. He dug through it. "Ah, the heart." he said, then swallowed it happily. Neji got up and excused himself. Then you could hear sounds of a man puking in the bushes. Naruto glanced down, embarrassed "Oh...sorry, I forgot that...I'm sorry everyone - I'm just used to...well...eating meat."

* * *

Shikamaru waved a hand, he had a somewhat stronger stomach. "No,... it's okay, go ahead eat...just please...hurry, the sooner you eat the sooner the sight is taken from us." Naruto smirked "Right, Yume I'm pretty full, do you want the rest?" Yume nodded and began to scarf down the rest of the rabbit. Hime was greatly enjoying her own food, she ate it greedily.

Hinata spoke: "How...did you find her?" she asked, nodding to her precious daughter (who was still happily eating her pudding). "It was easy, once I figured out it was the Chen clan who did it." Hinata almost dropped the spoon she was using to feed Hime. "What?! it was the Chen clan?" Naruto nodded "Yes, the man with silver hair...and one eye...he's their leader...he is also the one who ripped my students from me. I, in return, ripped his eye from his skull. I will one day seek to claim the other." Naruto stated matter-of-factly.

Hinata glanced into Naruto's eyes, they were burning with emotion. Hinata nodded "I see." Shikamaru spoke "But...that doesn't make sense, why would the Chen clan steal Hime?" Naruto shrugged "I...don't know, maybe to get back at me for killing so many of their own, or maybe...I don't know. We might find out later, but until then let us just be happy that she is safe."

Hinata looked to Hime "Yes, thank-you Naruto. Did you...well...?" Naruto shook his head knowing what Hinata meant. 'Did he kill any?' - that was the question. "Their numbers were too many, I did not want to risk Yume getting hurt." Yume sighed "I keep telling him that one day he will not have to worry about such things, that I will somehow become a warrior like he."

Naruto turned to her "How many times do I have to say it? I don't need a warrior by my side - I just need you to be there." Naruto said leaning in closer. Yume smiled softly and licked the blood from his muzzle as Naruto did the same, leaving the rest of the people nearby to sit awkwardly as the two wolves groomed each other.

Shikamaru fianlly had enough "Will you two love bird knock it off!" Naruto turned to him smiling, "Why? Are you...jealous?" he asked. Shikamaru smirked "No, actually. I too have a love, Naruto."

Naruto was surprised by this. "Who?" Shikamaru smiled "isn't it obvious? The one I have always been dating? I...well...I guess I proposed to her." Sakura laughed "No, what Shikamaru _did_ was throw a ring at her and say 'Here...wear this maybe?'" Naruto laughed "That is so like you." Shikamaru slightly blushed.

Then Hinata spoke up again, "How did you even know she was gone?" Naruto turned to her. "A few days ago I sneaked back into the village and visited Gomeg. He told me of such things, then I left to go after her, in hopes that by doing so my punishment for leaving the village would be slackened."

There was a silence, all of them had forgotten that Naruto was branded somewhat as a traitor. Sakura sighed heavily. "Don't worry, I'm sure it won't be too bad - I mean, you didn't do anything wrong when you were gone...right?" Naruto shook his head "No, I only stayed with a pack...and found the love of my life." Naruto was about to turn to Yume, but Shikamaru interjected "No! No more of that crap!"

Naruto glared at him. Yume looked at Shikamaru "I am beginning to think that human mates do not express themselves in such manners?" she asked Naruto. "No, they do, they just usually do it private. Humans are not quite as open as...well, the wolves of the pack." Yume nodded "I see. Such strange ways these humans have."

Naruto nodded "Yes, but don't worry you will get used to it." Yume nodded "I know I will, when I am with you, I can do anything." Naruto nodded "Same here." Then they shared a look, that even Shikamaru felt the shadow of that burning passion between them. He felt guilty for yelling at them before. Finally Naruto turned back to Sakura. "What else has happened?" he asked.

Sakura was about to speak but Neji answered instead, "Well, Sai and Ino got married, and Ten-ten and I are expecting a baby now." Naruto wagged his tail. "That is great news! Congratulations!" Yume turned to him "Naruto...what is a baby?" Naruto turned to her and said under his breath "Pups...well - one. They only have one at a time, well...sometimes two or even three...but that is very rare."

Yume shuddered "I would hate to take care of two human pups at once, they are too demanding. At least with wolf pups only I need to eat, and they can feed off of my milk. Then when they are older we can just regurgitate the food we had already eaten before. Plus, our pups would know how to make their leavings by themselves and clean themselves."

Naruto nodded "Yes my love, I know. Wolf pups are a lot smarter and more sufficient then human pups." Yume nodded "...and they actually stay when they are meant to stay...most of the time." she added. Naruto grinned "Yes, Hime was a bit tricky at times." Yume sighed and nuzzled up close to Naruto "I cannot wait until we have pups."

There was an awkward pause, then Kiba spoke. "Soo...Yume, you said you lived in a wolf pack before you met Naruto, is that correct?" Yume turned to him "Yes, I was the omega, bottom of the pack, I was only allowed to live because I was sister to the alpha and I already had earned a name." Kiba nodded "I see, was this a...demon wolf pack?" Naruto shook his head "No, these were regular wolves. Like I said, Yume didn't know she was a demon until recently."

Kiba was surprised at this but made no comment about it. "How did you find out?" Yume looked away sadly "Blackpelt, my brother, was leading us up a very dangerous pass, a short-cut to the next valley. I tripped and fell, and Naruto...who at that time was named Snowfur came after me to stop my fall." Yume gave Naruto a small lick as she positioned herself to lay down, Naruto easily curled up next to her and they lay side-by-side in the grass.

Naruto continued "We were stuck...well, she was. I managed to stick hold to the ground with use of chakra, but Yume couldn't until...well, it just happened. I don't know how or why, but I am glad it did, because we both were able to escape and catch up to the pack." Kiba glanced at Naruto confused "Wait" Sakura said. "You mean...the pack just left you? But wasn't he your brother?" Sakura said, turning to Yume. "Adopted I was...into pack, and rule of wild is always those who fall behind...get left behind. Only strong and fit meant to survive."

Sakura was speechless, it was a had life in the wild. Lee spoke "But that is good that you two made it! Your youthful fire burns-!" Sakura elbowed Lee before he could finish his sentence."What did I say Lee?" Sakura asked "To...ergh...not be so dramatic...all the time?" Sakura smirked "Good boy, Sakura is pleased." Lee smiled happily even though he was in pain.

Yume chuckled her voice was like a set of chimes, full of sound and mesmerizing. Sakura could see how Naruto was in love. Her muzzle at first made her look strange, but after awhile you didn't see that, you only saw her, her insides, her love and her kindness. She was like Naruto so caring and loving, but where Naruto was a rushing river of energy, she was a calm and thoughtful pool. They were alike, but they also balanced each other out, her calm-headedness, which - granted - at times, Naruto could be (but very rarely) helped balance the zany, explosive, out-of-control, wild energy that Naruto had.

Naruto, of course, helped Yume break out of her shell, and live a little more on the fun side at times. Sakura nodded, she was glad of Yume and so happy for the both of them. Neither one would want to disappoint or hurt the others feelings, they needed each other, as well as wanted each other, they were perfect. Naruto yawned. "You know, this would be nice, to be just like this, basking in the sun, talking among all my old friends, but I know I am going to have to get up soon. I can't put it off, I need to walk through those gates...and take whatever punishment is waiting for me."

Sakura was sad for a moment, but Naruto was right, they couldn't expect him to get off free. He had left the village and so he would have to face and pay for his crimes. Although she knew that he would not be sentenced to death, Kakashi would never let that happen, he could be imprisoned or something else...who knew? Naruto laid his head down, and Yume rested her's on top of his.

Kiba spoke "Don't worry, Naruto. Whatever comes...we will be there for you - you have our support." Naruto turned his head slightly towards Kiba "Thanks, I am really happy for that, even though I don't feel like I deserve this...not after all I did to you and put you through." Kiba nodded "That's true...When you left it hurt...It hurt a lot, but you also saved Hime, you brought my family back together, and you have healed, you are back to your old self. The wolf that had left was not Naruto anyway, and now that you are back - in more ways than one - we are happy to accept your return."

Naruto let a tear fall from his eye "Thank-you Kiba" he said. He slowly got up, giving a murmured apology to Yume. He stood, his full height and squared his shoulders, lifting his chin high. Yume spoke "I have come to worry when you do that pose." Naruto turned to her, a light gleaming in his eye "Why ever so?" Yume stood next to him "Because when you do that, you either end up in a fight or causing mischief of some sort."

Naruto feigned being hurt by her words. "But...you always like when I fight..." Yume grinned and gave him a quick lick. "I do, but I just got you. I don't want to live my entire life with a scarred patch of fur for a mate." Naruto grinned. "I don't have that many scars." He said indigently. Yume twitched her one ear, silently hinting to his ear that had a small piece ripped from the tip.

Naruto rolled his eyes "That one was from _your_ brother, don't go blaming me." Yume grinned and nipped him playfully. Naruto gave chase and the couple then ran around, chasing each other. The others were left to watch him and talk about the two in private. Finally the two wolves came back, and Naruto turned, his sights set towards Konoha.

He was a striking figure at that moment, his body lean and strong, his eyes clear and glowing; he radiated with his aura of happiness and strength. Then he spoke, his voice demanding attention. "It is ironic...when I was with Jeriyah we stopped and camped at this very place, so many years ago, and once more I find myself standing here and saying 'It is time. It is time for me to return home.'"

Then with that he turned and gave them all a smile then bounded off, Yume in tow, towards the gates of Konoha.

* * *

**Well that is what I have. OMG it is so scary, I start my first day of college on the 4th of September, going to be there all alone in my dorms (except for my dorm-mates) starting the 2nd. Why is life so...scary, leaving all my friends, and family...why did I choose a school in a different state?**

**:*(...(T-T)**

**From,**

**your very freaked out and scared Author, who would like hugs.**

**NSW**


	58. The Return

**Life As A Fox**

**Chapter 57**

**NSW-The Forsaken Author of the Lost Story (see my bio for explanation)**

**Thank you so much for the reviews and hugs by the way! They really are inspiring. I'm working to get as many chapters done as I can!**

**Lately, I have been getting some mail of people asking if the story is over, I am going to say this out right, it is not over, it is not even close, so please refrain from asking, thank-you.**

* * *

It was a solemn affair, thought Naruto, as he stood silently in the middle of the dirt road leading into the main gate of Konoha. Even from a distance it looked omnipresent and looming to the returning party - though it was strange to think of their own home as a 'threat'. On either side of the road, the leaves dropped from the trees, scattering on the wind. Dust would pick up and blow towards Naruto as if challenging him to step forward.

Yume stood behind him to the side, he turned and glanced to her. She nodded giving him the strength he needed. He turned to see the others join him as well. It was sometime in the afternoon, so it was quiet and calm. All the teams who had received missions were already far off, and would not be coming back for awhile. Naruto breathed in the air, he could smell all those once-familiar smells flooding his nostrils, the different scents of businesses and people.

The roasting spices from the barbecue stand, the over-intoxicating aromas from the beauty store and all the perfume and chemicals that girls used upon their faces. The soft decadent smell of ramen, being brewed and perfected over a stove. All these overpowered his senses, he could hear the sounds of people walking, talking, eating - children screaming and running around.

The village was so full of life, and energy; full of noise and pollution. It was such a jump from the simple sounds and smell of nature. He was detoured, and he suddenly was frightened to step forward. He felt like he would be lost if he entered that village, how on earth would he find Yume? How would he be able to scent for her or howl for her? It was too smelly! Too noisy! Too many people, they would get separated!

On top of that, every one of these people, they knew about him - how he had left, disappeared without a trace, betrayed them. He would be met with disgust, he shivered at the memory of how he was before he had left. All he wanted now was to be trusted by them...He'd had it once, but he had betrayed them, he had turned his back on them. There was no way they would ever trust him again.

Hinata walked up to him, she laid a sudden hand on his shoulder. "It's okay Naruto, you can do this. Remember, we are here for you." Naruto nodded as his inner turmoils suddenly vanished - she was right, he would just have to re-earn their trust; re-learn how to live in such a place. He could only imagine what Yume was feeling. For a fleeting moment he thought about running back to the wilds with her, but an aching inside him told him he had to do this, he had to return. This was his home, the home of his father and mother, the home of his friends, the home of his pack...he could do this.

He stepped forward and began to walk, that last, long, gravel mile towards the gates of Konoha. As they grew larger and taller they made him fell even smaller and smaller with every step. They were designed that way, to make the village of Konoha seem bigger and greater then it already was. He stopped though, just beyond the gates. The two gate guard's he could see were casually reading a magazine or sleeping, not paying attention.

Naruto felt a small tremor of a familiar emotion run through him. He turned to the others, "If I am going to return...I will not return slinking in like a criminal, I want everyone to know that I am back, once and for all." With that he dashed forward and, bouncing off the two gates, he climbed up to the top of the Konoha gate.

He stood, now a small dot against the sun, and they heard a howl rise into the air, a long powerful one, one that signaled that once more the streets of Konoha will now and forevermore, be home to a familiar demon wolf. Yume tipped her head back and howled, answering him, their voices climbed and echoed together. Reaching a climaxing symphony they fell together, blending in an eerie harmony, that only they seemed to know how to do.

* * *

Kakashi was reading a book, his legs extended easily upon his desk, his chair slightly tipped backwards as he read relaxingly, one arm folded up behind his head. He turned the page with his thumb and had just begun to read the next when, suddenly, a howl broke through the conundrum. He dropped his book and eased the chair forward.

He set his feet gently on the floor, his heart pounding and his arm falling from its position. He stood slowly and turned; Ignoring the book he turned instead to the window. Then he heard another howl answering the other. He listened to them silently, as happiness and hope began to fill his heart. He knew that this could only mean one thing: Naruto had saved Hime, and had returned once more to the village.

He quickly pulled his Hokage gown off, it was bothersome and dis-hindered speedy flight, and opened the window. As he leaped through it he began to wonder randomly why they even bothered put a door to the office when the only people who ever used it was the office assistant. Well, he supposed _some_ ninja did actually report by going through the door, but he and many others had always used the window. When he thought deeper - every Hokage was that way. Was there something peculiar about using a window instead of a door?

Kakashi mulled it about as he hopped from rooftop to rooftop. ...and then there was this - this leaping upon roofs. it was quick yes, but did the people who lived in such places ever get annoyed with it? Or did it become a common everyday thing? Like, did the wife of the house when she was cooking say to herself 'Oh, another ninja off to a mission, he must be in a hurry, he only landed once' or something like that?

Then he thought why the hell was he thinking of these things now? He shook it from mind. He smirked as his private guard caught up to him, they huffed as they got into positions. He smiled to himself, he always liked getting one up on them, keeping them on their toes. He hated the fact that he needed them, who the hell was going to attack him? He was the Copy-cat Ninja for hell's sake, he was the strongest ninja in the village, why the hell did the strongest ninja in the village need protection?

He cursed himself again - why the hell was he thinking these things now? Naruto was here! He should be more worried about Naruto. Finally, the main gate came in veiw, and he saw a familiar figure standing upon it. "So like him, everything has to be big and 'cool' looking, just like his father." Kakashi said to himself. He leaped down to the main street and walked upon it. The only time this part of town was busy was in the morning and at night when teams were coming and going to missions.

He walked casually towards the gatehouse as the two gate guards frantically fixed themselves to make them look presentable. Kakashi waved them off before they cold salute him. Just beyond the gate he could see a familiar group of people, Sakura, Lee, Neji,Kiba,Hinata,Shikamaru...and little Hime. He smiled softly, he didn't know how the hell he had done it so fast, but he was happy.

Then his eye caught sight of another figure, it almost blended into the gravel. Tall, with an long skinny muzzle, aother wolf stood, but it wasn't Naruto. Naruto leaped down a few yards away. Kakashi, by one look, could see he was smiling and happy once more. He held no regrets or any guilt of the past, he was healed. Gomeg had spoken the truth, which meant that the other wolf, was the one who healed him...his mate.

She ran forward and, on closer inspection, he noted she had very lovely green eyes. She ran right to Naruto, the gate guards stood in slack-jawed confusion as they looked up to where Naruto had came from. Then they watched as this wolf ran towards the Naruto. Naruto turned to her, grinning, then he turned back and walked forward - his tail held down, but not tucked.

His ears however were held backwards and his head bowed. He paused, someways away from him. "Sir, Hokage." he said. Kakashi was silent. Kakashi had enough formalities, he was just happy Naruto was home. He spoke to Naruto "Oh, so now you want to be formal, how about when you decided to leave the village for almost a year? Couldn't be bothered to leave a note or request for some leave?"

Naruto slunk lower. 'Man...he really is sorry.' Kakashi thought to himself. But now his happiness of Naruto being here was waning, now was time for the anger of having to be over-worried and stressed over his student. "Don't think that sitting and cowering there is going to curb my anger, you have any idea what I had to go through? How much I had to do to keep you from being put on the Bingo books as a traitor? You owe me big time Na- I mean...dammit! What the hell was your name again?" Kakashi yelled, his anger making him forget.

"Fluffy...sir" Naruto finally said. Kakashi nodded, stifling laughter, 'Oh yeah, that's right, that _is_ what Hinata named him.' Kakashi thought, then he spoke. "Well..Fluffy, what do you have to say for yourself, what the_ hell_ was going through your head when you thought leaving the village was the smartest fucking idea in that messed-up wolf mind of yours? Hnmmmmmm?"

Naruto was silent for a bit, 'Holy hell...he is pissed.' Naruto thought to himself. "Well...I...I wanted to go and bury my students." Kakashi was taken aback by the answer..."What? they already were...we buried Gin-" "but not Baru and Chikao." Kakashi was silent then it hit him. 'He went...and buried...but...that was months...oh my...' Kakashi stood there stunned.

Naruto continued "it was terrible Hokage sir, but...I managed to give them proper burial. I had planned on returning soon after completing the burial but...something happened while I was out there...and I realized...I was not safe to have in the village. I would have moments of...intense anger, so intense I would lash out and attack anything with such viciousness...and Hinata and Kiba had a young child in the house..."

Then it hit Kakashi, Naruto had left not to because he wanted to, but because he had to, It made sense now, he could see Naruto's point of view, a small young toddler, running about next to a wolf with jaws that could bend steel and if that said wolf was having moments of... delirium to put it mildly, it would not be a good mix. Thankfully, Naruto had come to that realization, that knowing that something was wrong with him, and that until he was fixed he needed to stay away...this changed everything.

Naruto watched Kakashi, waiting for his reaction. Kakashi spoke after awhile. "Very well...I guess the best thing to do at the moment is to see what the council has to say about these things." Naruto nodded, Kakashi was right, that would be the proper thing to do. Kakashi looked to Yume Sso, is this one who Gomeg told me about?" Naruto smiled and nodded.

He turned to Yume she stepped up cautiously. "That is your alpha is it not?" Naruto nodded "He is" Yume glanced to Kakashi. "You are the alpha who is perverted and is late all the time, correct?" Naruto whimpered "Yume! don't say that! we want him to like us!" Kakashi was silent. "I am NOT perverted." Naruto snapped his head to him "Yes you are! dude you probably were in your office reading one of those paradise books - like always!"

Kakashi yelled at him "OI! It is not my fault that his editor found a huge private manuscript stash and is now publishing them all!" A silence descended the area. Everyone stared at Kakashi. Kakashi blushed beneath his mask. "I mean...well, that's what I have heard at least." Naruto raised an eye-brow at him.

"Oh be quiet." Kakashi said crossing his arms. "Anyway, let's get moving. Someone go notify the council and get them ready." He then turned back to Naruto "Fluffy, come with us. I am sorry but you will have to leave Yume with them" Kakashi said, motioning to the others. Naruto nodded, Yume whined and rubbed against him. "Don't worry, we will get through this, just please stay with Hinata and them...nothing could keep me parted from your side."

Yume nodded "I know, but I am scared, I love you Na-" Naruto silenced her with a passionate licking on her muzzle he whispered in her ear "Don't speak that name, it's a secret name, only few know of it, you must call me either Fluffy or Wolf-heart when there are others besides them around." He said nodding to Hinata and the others.

Yume nodded and licked his back. They stood for a moment, heads wrapped around each others necks, then they slowly parted. "I love you Yume" he said, before he left - then followed Kakashi as they led him away.

* * *

**Sorry, not much in this chapter as well, but still hoped you enjoyed.**

**Remember to R&R, and that every review is greatly appreciated. I also want to take this chance to thank everyone who has given me support for college, only three days left. I want to try getting a chapter done each of those days. Thank-you to all for sticking with this story and really making it come to life.**

**I have been thinking in awhile I might do an Author Q&A (even though it's forbidden, I can place it at the end of a chapter, so then it's not a separate chapter onto itself.)**

**So please send me questions in PM or even in a review, I don't really mind, I read each one, and in a few chapters I will give you answers to all your questions. So...**

**Ta Ta for now!**

**NSW**


	59. Punishment and Dango

**Life As A Fox**

**Chapter 58**

**NSW-The Forsaken Author of the Lost Story (see my bio for explanation)**

**Thank you so much for the reviews and hugs by the way! They really are inspiring. I'm working to get as many chapters done as I can!**

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Naruto stepped into the room. The tile was cold beneath his paws. As he walked forward he couldn't help feeling as though the walls themselves were judging him. He looked about, but the walls were bare, just plain gray slate colored walls. Naruto continued on, the room was large, he could see at the way end of the room was a table, set upon an upraised place in the floor, three steps led up to it.

Naruto continued to walk towards the two figures. A man and a women, so old looking and pale, Naruto thought they were corpses with the small amount of light there was. Their eyes stared out at him from rolls of wrinkles and sagging skin. Naruto gulped. The women spoke first, her voice was surprisingly loud, but it croaked and cracked with each word.

"You, may stop" Naruto did so, unsure if he should bow to them or to sit or stand he stood awkwardly and looked down at the floor. The women spoke "My name is Koharu Utatane" She then turned her head slowly towards the man beside her. Her neck...creaked, it literally creaked as she did this. 'How old are these people?' he thought to himself.

She spoke "this is Homura Mitokado, we are the Konoha elders and council." Naruto bowed to them. She continued after a ragged breath. "We have served these positions for almost thirty years" Naruto gulped, he knew to even be considered to be an elder, you had to at least be seventy years or older...so that would mean, these two had to be at least in their early hundreds or late nineties.

The man spoke a slight trembling in his lips. "What is your name?" he asked simply. Naruto spoke "my name is Fluffy...but my official name within the Anbu is Wolfheart." The man brought out a peice of paper and looked at it. It was quiet for a bit then he spoke. "It is said, that you left the village almost 10 months ago...is that correct?"

Naruto nodded "yes, that is correct" The man filled something out with a shaking hand. "Why was your reason for leaving?" he asked finally. Naruto took a slow breath in then began. "I left, to go and bury my two students who I had to leave behind during a mission." The man spoke "last I cheaked, it does not take ten months to do this."

Naruto nodded "you are correct, I completed the task within a few days." The women spoke next "then why did you not return?" she asked her voice shrill. Naruto glanced to her. "While I was burying them, I...I don't know, I just realized that...something was not right, that...I just knew I could not return, you see before I left I got in a small fight with some of my friends...I felt like they did not want me any more so..." The women interjected "so you abandoned them and your village, whom you swore to protect?"

Naruto gulped "no! it wasn't like that, I didn't want to-" "do not raise your voice to us, and you seem to be changing your story? What is the truth? did you want to leave or did you not want to-" Naruto spoke out of frustration "I left because I had to! Something was wrong with me! I don't know what it was, but it was something inside of me...and...I don't know...I would be overtaken...by sudden urges..of anger, I would...lash out and strike things...I...just didn't want to hurt the ones I have come to care for even more."

There was a silence. The two looked to each other. For a long time there was a heavy dull silence then she spoke. "This...changes things...in all my years of being...a judge, I don't know why...but I feel as though...you speak the truth, I don't know if it your demon powers or if I am just growing old...however I will take that last statement as a truthful one."

She wrote something on a sheet of paper then she asked "the thing the village want to know, and this is the most important one, did you, say, or do anything that could cause harm to the village?" Naruto shook his head "I never did anything, I went and lived in the wilds of the forest...to clear my head and cure me of my...affliction."

Utatane nodded "and your affliction is cured...no more boughts of anger?" Naruto shook his head "none, I have come to terms with what has happened and I have found peace." Uratane nodded "well...since you did not release any information or join any causes against the village, the term 'traitor' is a bit harsh...however you did leave the village...had we been int times of war you would have been put to death...but thank-fully we are not in a war at the moment, so the only thing we can brand you with is...'abandoning one's post...for an extended period of time'."

Naruto was in shock...he was...well... relatively...clear! Utatane smiled, her wizened lips pulled themselves up and revealed aged pale teeth. One missing on her top jaw. She spoke "your punishment is, six months community service and whatever punishment your Anbu general decides to place upon you." Naruto was happy for a moment then he shuddered on the inside.

He knew whatever the Anbu gave him would be pretty severe and grueling. 'I will probably also lose my eligibility for Captianship' He thought dryly to himself. But he decided beggars can't be choosers, he was just glad he was allowed back into the village. The women held out a slip to him. "Take this to the Hokage, we are glad to have you in our services once more wolf demon Wolfheart."

Naruto nodded and gently took the slip from her, he bowed to the two elders once more then turned and walked away. He glanced back at the elders, only to see the table they had sat at empty. He saw no sign of them. 'How the hell did they leave so quickly?' he thought to himself. He left the room. This time when he walked he no longer felt as though he was being judged, he felt like he was being commended for a job well done, as if the walls were happy he was back.

He left the building and was stunned how bright it was outside, he was used to the dim room he had just been in. He blinked a couple times and a voice spoke next to him. "Well I am guessing it turned out good" Naruto jumped it was Kakashi. Naruto wagged his tail, he couldn't speak at the moment. Kakashi took the slip from his mouth flicking it once to get rid of the dog drool.

He squinted his eye and began to read. "Ah. very good, I think I have the perfect community service job" Naruto glanced to him "really what?" Kakashi smiled "what better way to serve your community and Hokage then to baby-sit his two children for six months?" Naruto sighed "very well" Kakashi chuckled "Anki! Sakumo!" he called out.

A little girl with black hair like her mothers but with Kakashi's eyes walked out, she was about four years old. She held the hand of a small toddler, probably not even one. He had short silver hair and had the same facial structure as his father. Naruto thought in his head 'if he doesn't form the habit of wearing a mask, we will be able to see what the hell Kakashi looks like.'

Kakashi reached out and hugged the two of them, He picked the boy up. Anki, you remember Fluffy?" Anki squealed and ran to him and hugged him. Naruto was almost knocked over she was a strong child. She quickly climbed ontop of him "ya! horsie" she yelled. Naruto internally started to regret his decision of returning to the village.

* * *

After giving Anki and Sakumo pony rides for an hour or so, Anko came and picked them up. Kakashi kissed her on the cheek and she gave Naruto a hug. She pulled him aside and spoke "I am glad you returned, you have no idea what guilt was going through Kakashi, he had to watch his own father slowly fall apart when his fathers students died...I am glad you managed to come back, it gives him hope and peace."

Naruto nodded "thank-you, but it was Yume who saved me" Anko tilted her head "who?" Naruto cleared his throat "Yume...she is my mate." Anko dropped her jaw happily. "Oh my! Kashi!(using his met name) did you know he had a mate?" Kakashi nodded Anko glared "and you still made him sit here and give our kids rides...how dare you!"

She said bopping over the head. "Let him go to his mate, I bet she is worried sick about him and I bet he misses her!" Kakashi (who at the moment was being shook like a rag-doll) could only nod and agree with his loving wife.

* * *

Yume however was having a very interesting time, they had showed her around the village. She licked the small logs that had moving scenes on them. Something called a T.V she heard Hinata say. She also was amazed at the sound of voices coming from an even smaller log. She had tried to save the poor souls stuck inside of them, but this made the man who owned this log very angry.

She apologized greatly. Kiba explained to her that it was called a radio and no one was inside of it. She had no idea that the magic of humans was so powerful. She shuddered to think of what they could build during a war. Yume then tried many foods. Naruto was right all these foods were...amazing, so many kinds..and flavors she had never experianced, she felt sorry her stomach was so small, she wished to eat it all.

She liked this one food callled 'Dango' they were three small different colored circles on a stick and they were delicious. She was surprised you could just wlak up to the person who had them and hand them theses leaves or small pebbles and you got the food. Kiba explained it was money and that was how you got stuff in the village.

She was baffled by this. But she greatly enjoyed the village, it was at first overwhelming but she soon got used to it. Then she heard a familiar howl, she shook her tail and howled back. Awaiting her mates arrival. He came running through the street to her. She lept and ran towards him as well. They met and collided with each other playfully.

They licked each others faces and rubbed their heads together. The others cam running up to Naruto. "So?" Hinata asked. Naruto turned to her "oh!...right! ummmm I have six months community service and then...I don't know...Mammoth will have to give me my other punishment." All of them hooped and hollered in celebration.

Yume spoke "there is much food my love, you were right, I have found it all satisfying!" Naruto grinned "I am glad you like it, you know what I am hungry for?" he said. "What?" Hinata asked "Ramen...so hungry for ramen." They all laughed Yume spoke "what is ramen?" Naruto widened his eyes "she doesn't know...she doesn't know! I must rectify this at once!" He ran to a nearby bank, managed to remember all his account numbers and withdrew money...lots of it. Then he said no to all the deals the bank was offering, and continued on his way.

He then took Yume and the others to a familiar stand, his heart melted as well did his face when he smelled that delicious food. He ordered bowl after bowl and ate his fill. Yume of course got the first bite, she like it as well...but was full from all her other food so Naruto had to happily eat most of the food. After he was satisfied he was lying on his back. Stomach extended outwards.

Yume glanced at him "are you un well?" she asked he laughed "I ate...too much...but I feel...so good" he said then slowly rolled to his feet. "Time to go home I guess" Kiba and the others had left after they had finished their food, all of them were tired, they did not have the stamina or energy like the two wolves to stay out eating ramen all night.

Naruto led her to Kiba and Hinata's "welcome home Yume" he said to her. Yume looked at him "wherever we go is home" she said finally. He smiled "I really...I am just so happy I met you." he said softly then the two wolves ascended into the house and curled up on a familiar pillow that had laid empty for so long.

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**Awwwww...they are a cute couple, well I hope you enjoyed. (no this is not the last chapter) Only three days until I go to college woot woot!**

**NSW**


	60. You Again!

**Life As A Fox**

**Chapter 59**

**NSW-The Forsaken Author of the Lost Story (see my bio for explanation)**

**Thank you so much for the reviews and hugs by the way! They really are inspiring. I'm working to get as many chapters done as I can!**

**ATTENTION, LOOKING FOR QUESTIONS FOR THE Q AND A SOON, NEED QUESTIONS TO ANSWER TO, PLEASE SPAM ME, I DON'T CARE I NEED SOMETHING TO DO, PLEASE AND THANKS...WRITING IN CAPS LOCK IS FUN...WEEEEEEEEEEE!**

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Naruto opened his eyes up slowly. It seemed like a dream, how surreal everything was. He had went through so much and now here he was sleeping on his pillow. Curled up next to the most beautiful creature in the world. Life seemed perfect. He got up and yawned. Yume woke at his movement. She yawned as well. "morning" she said sleepily.

He smiled and licked her "morning" he said back, "what's for breakfast?" she asked. Naruto shrugged "you want to go hunting?" Yume sat up at that. She nodded and padded towards the door. Then yelped Naruto ran to her "what is it?" he asked she was staring at Akamaru "what is that?" she asked "I have never seen a creature like that..." Akamaru awoke.

He stared at Yume for a bit, then growled. Yume backed away. Naruto growled with full authority forward. 'Harm my mate, you will not' he told the dog. Akamaru seemed to get the message he whined and turned his head away. Yume stared at Akamaru. Naruto turned to her "it's an Akamaru, he is a dog." Yume stared at him "he looks like a weird...wolf" Naruto nodded "he is, sorta...you see thousands of years ago man domesticated a few wolves...and they became dogs, and now there are ton's of different breeds...and all of them originate from us." he told her.

Yume nodded "I see, well let us hunt!" she exclaimed. Naruto stopped her "hold on let me tell Kiba and Hinata" He said. He then turned and padded down to their room. Kiba and Hinata had slept with little Hime between both of them. She seemed secure and safe all nestled up in the bed between the parents. Naruto nudged Hinata slightly.

Hinata mumbled in her sleep. Naruto nudged her harder. She awoke groggily. "Wha...Naru-...what's wrong?" she asked. Naruto calmed her "it's nothing, I just wanted to let you know me and Yume are going for a hunt." Hinata nodded "fine...wait why? there is food" Naruto shrugged "it's what we do, what are you planning for supper, I can bring you back something."

Hinata smiled "no, that's fine, if I want meat I can go to the butcher shop." Naruto pretended to be hurt by the comment. Hinata sighed "fine bring back some venison flank" Naruto nodded "sounds delicious, be back soon." He said to her then raced down the hall to Yume. They exited and ran to the forest. They followed a trail for some time then finally began to stalk the deer.

The hunt was short, these deer were not used to wolves hunting them, they had lived a placid and safe life. Not even humans would hunt them, so they grew fat and unaccustomed to running for their lives. Naruto and Yume ate plentiful then Naruto ripped some flank off and carried it home to Hinata.

* * *

Hinata had got up and started breakfast. She heard a knock on the door she answered it. It was Mammoth, he stood in his full gear and stood a commanding figure. "Oh, hello" she said. He nodded "is Wolfheart here?" he asked. Hinata shook her head "no, he and Yume went hunting a while ago, but I am sure they will be back soon, you can come in and sit."

Mammoth was taken aback, he was not used to be invited in. He awkwardly came in. He sat down "breakfast?" she asked he shook his head "no, I ate already." Hinata nodded "tea or coffee?" she asked as well. He shrugged "coffee would be lovely if it is not to much trouble." Hinata nodded "of course it isn't, I am guessing you are here to talk to Fluffy about his punishment."

Mammoth nodded as Hinata reached into the cupboards and grabbed a mug. She turned and poured the freshly brewed black drink into it. "Sugar or milk?" she asked. He shook his head "just black" he said and thanked her. He placed the cup down. He reached for his mask. Then hesitated "don't worry, your face is safe with me" she said without looking to him.

'how the hell did she guess what I was thinking?' he said in his head. He pulled the mask off "thank-you again, and yes I am here to talk to him about possible options." Hinata went about making food. "I don't know what to say, I mean he did do a few bad things, but I don't think it warrants him being beat or anything." Hinata said.

Mammoth shook his head "no, no, I would never do that, and you are right, I am not sure what I might do. I think I will just limit his missions and give him office duty for a few weeks. " Mammoth said sipping his coffee. He sighed satisfactory. "I won't have him from the field to long, he is one of our best field agents, he also know the most about the Chen clan."

Hinata dropped a fork on the floor at the mention of the name. "Oh, I am sorry I did not mean to-" "no, no it's all right, really that..name...just surprises me still." He nodded "I trust your daughter is well?" Hinata nodded "oh yes, she was a little worse for wear, but then again she had lived with two wolves for a few days."

Mammoth grinned. Hinata looked at him warmly. "I always wondered, why do you name yourselves after animals?" Mammoth took a sip and thought deeply for a few moments. "It is a basic human trait, even among ancient times, people would dress up like animals and move like animals...hoping to mimic their powers...hoping that it would give them strength and protection on the hunt or in battle."

Mammoth continued "we name our kind after animals not so that we turn into them, but to release the animal that is within all of us...that true animal, we name ourselves after it, pay homage to it, when we become our true self, then we are the strongest we can become." He was silent. "Inside of me, there is a lone powerful mammoth staring out across the weathered frozen land of my home."

Hinata nodded slowly "you are right, I do see that, how do you know what to name them?" Mammoth grinned "that is why there is a three month training process, we constantly watch that person...or demon and see what creature is really inside of them, it doesn't go by just appearance, or fighting style...although that is sometimes taken into consideration, it also goes by who that person is, what motivates them...what is their reason for doing what they do?"

Hinata nodded "I see, thank-you for sharing, I think I understand." He nodded "you are welcome it is nice to talk with a young beautiful person now and again." He added grinning to her. Hinata blushed and smiled "why thank-you, with your charm though, I wonder how you don't have one yourself?" Mammoth sighed "I did, once...long ago. But...I am a Mammoth...a lead Mammoth at that, although I will always have my favorites...I must watch out and protect the herd as a whole."

Hinata nodded understanding, he loved her, but he had to let her go for his work. Because deep down he loved his work even more. She spoke "maybe someday, another can take over the herd, and you can retreat to the side of that one favorite?" she said questioning. Mammoth smirked "oh, that was many years ago, I bet she found another who could love her just as much as me."

Hinata smiled and got up she got a cookie from the jar and gave it to him. "I doubt you had a young pretty thing make you anything in a long while, you are over-do for something sweet." Mammoth smiled Kiba walked in then. "Morning" he said, he knew Mammoth was here he could hear Hinata and him talk the entire time.

Mammoth spoke to Kiba "you keep this wife of your close you hear? she is to good to let her slip away." Kiba smiled "thank-you sir but you don't need to tell me twice, I already know how good she is." Mammoth laughed. Full and hearty. He took a bite of a cookie, Hinata was right, it had been a long while since he tasted something sweet.

He began to wonder about that women of so long ago, where was she now?Where did her heart take her? He contemplated this. Then Hinata spoke "ah, the are back" she said. Mammoth turned to see his best demon wolf come through the door holding a mass of something red and bloody in his jaws. He took it to Hinata who got it and put it in the sink and began to wash it.

Mammoth spoke "morning Wolfheart." He turned "morning-" he jumped realizing who was here. Another wolf came in, she was slim and had a sandy colord fur, green eyes, and both long muzzle and legs, she looked...odd. He nodded to her. She nodded back, she nudged Wolfheart. "What is wrong my love?" she asked. He turned to her. Mammoth saw it then, the look of true love between two souls.

He smiled, because he was happy that Wolfheart was happy. He took another bite of his cookie, something was wrong with this place. He was Mammoth, the leader of the Anbu core, they were supposed to be emotionless and brutal. They were the beasts of Konaha, the elite, and here he was munching on a cookie and grinning like a fool...well...at least he had coffee.

Wolfheart cleared his throat "sir, I wanted to apologize for-" Mammoth held up his hand "I am not in mood for explanation, all I want to know is..will you do it again?" Wolfheart shook his head. "good, then you will have three months office duty" He then stood up "I thank-you for the cookie and the pleasurable company" he said to Hinata and Kiba.

Wolfheart spoke "Mammoth...this is my mate Yume." He turned to her "pleased to meet you, don't you worry I won't send him on too dangerous of missions, not when I know he has a pretty wolf like you waiting at home." Yume blushed at his comment. Naruto grinned "don't worry sir, you can tell me to go tackle a god and I would do so and come back, nothing could keep me from her."

Mammoth grinned "I will see to it." Then without another word he left. Naruto turned to Yume "well I will be home later I must go...start...baby-sitting" He then licked her once and he left. When he did Yume turned to Hinata and Kiba "I do not get it, why would someone want him to sit on your pups?" Kiba and Hinata then broke out in laughter.

* * *

The three months of office work went by quickly, along with the baby sitting. He still had three months of that left but today he was finally back to do normal missions for the Anbu. Mammoth called him in "I need you to do an escort, you will be accompanied by Tiger, Bear, and Horse" Naruto nodded "very well...where shall we pick them up?"

Mammoth waved him off "no just one person, you will be escorting them to Konoha." Naruto nodded "then where are they?" Mammoth shrugged "they are in Konoha, it is a prison transport, one of the maximum security prisoners time is done, they will be needed an escort home." Naruto nodded "very well I shall go-" "say's here his name is Uchiha Sasuke."

Naruto froze. He turned slowly to Mammoth "what?" he said. "WHAT!" he yelled. Causing Mammoth to jump, he had never heard Wolfheart yell like that. "What do you mean he is out? He was supposed to serve three-" Naruto cut himself off as he began to count...it had been...he didn't even notice...he stared at the floor in shame.

Mammoth spoke "are you all right?" Naruto nodded "I...it's just...I remember what he did...I testified against him..." Mammoth sighed "well it doesn't matter his debt is paid, now get over it and escort him home." Naruto nodded it took all his will power to bow his head and say "hai sir" he then left. He met up with his team and they went to the Konoha penitentiary. A few miles away from Konoha, buried in the back hills and mines.

It was here all the criminals had to work the mines under lock and key. Naruto entered with all papers and forms, they were slowly led through each sealed gate. Having to stop and go through codes and codes, it was a long process to get into the maximum security, the ones in there were not allowed outside. Instead they had a gym sized area where rocks were brought in for them to work on.

All of them were separated from each other of course, they all had chains and chakra suppressors and everything you could imagine to keep them controlled. Of course though no thought was given to escape, there was to many men and to many gates, they were like trapped rats. Sasuke was not among them, he was waiting in his cell, hand-cuffed and chained.

Four prison guards waited for them. Naruto and his group saluted them. The guards opened the cell door, it swung open, heavy metal that had built in rare metals that messed up chakra concentration. Naruto could feel his own chakra get affected by it. He shivered at the thought of being locked up in a box that had it in the walls.

Sasuke stood back to them, he had grown taller and his arm's looked a lot buffer. His skin was still pale and his hair still shone like it always was. Naruto couldn't believe it, it felt like going back down memory lane, except this memory lane was built upon the bones of the dead and was decorated with the blood of the innocent.

Sasuke turned around, he was expecting Sasuke's eyes to be like they always were, hardened and cold. Even crueler then before, that's what you do when you lock an animals in a box and throw away the key, they become even more cruel then before. But they were different, they were soft and seemed to be...dazed as if he came out of a pleasant day dream.

Naruto cleared his throat before Sasuke could say anything. He had seen Naruto was opened his mouth, he seemed surprised. "Listen here Uchiha, I was there for your little court room performance, you may have got the council members and everyone else fooled, but I know you and your ways, and I will not be having any of it in my village, if it were my call I would have you locked up forever." He spat.

Everyone around Naruto was stunned, even the prison guards they had never seen someone just overly hate some one outright, they knew the Uchiha crimes. But the guards had a system, a way of life you could even call it, once that person has paid his debt, he was clear of whatever he did, you were supposed to judge him any further for what he had done.

But this wolf was no guard so the pardoned him even though their system went against it. Naruto continued not caring what the others thought, he would keep the Uchiha silent. "Around these parts I am known as Wolfheart of the Anbu, you will not speak unless spoken to, you take one step out of line and I will drag you here myself and make sure you never get up to cause harm to this village ever again! Now answer me, is that clear?"

Naruto was expecting a sarcastic rebuttal or a spurring sentence, but no. Sasuke mearly nodded and answered "sir yes sir." Naruto narrowed his eyes but nodded to his men "make sure those chains are good and tight." He said then growled as he stalked away.

* * *

Naruto was in the lead as they walked the three miles to Konoha. No one was on these back roads, and the only thing that was here was a random sentry post every 50 meters that ran along the rode in case of a escape. Naruto nodded to the guards in each one before continuing. When they got to Konoha they donned an invisibility aura that hid all of them and Sasuke.

They kept this up intil they reached the quiet Uchiha sector deserted except for one house that was alive and cheery. The smell of baked apple pies coming from the windows and the sound of a child laughing and another baby crying...make that two another joined in. Naruto and the others let the henge go then he nodded to his men.

They moved in he stopped them for a second "when we remove these shackles, you will have use of your chakra coil again, it's going to hurt like hell, good luck." Naruto said. Then nodded. The men removed the shackled and sure enough three years of having your chakra coil suppressed took it's toll. The Uchiha crumpled to the ground groaning.

Naruto grinned slightly, it was good to see him in pain, he deserved it. He nodded to his men "that will be good." They took his dismissal and disappeared. Naruto growled "look at me" Sasuke did taking shuddering breaths, "what is your angle now? do I need to follow you every moment once more? It would be a lot easier on both of us if you just tell me your plans right now, I have a mate now and I would like to spend time with her."

Sasuke shook his head "no angle...I just...I just want to be a good father...those kids...they are all I have...they are my only family now." Naruto silenced he grunted and turned away "I don't trust you Uchiha, not after what you did, I have seen what you can do." Sasuke nodded he grimaced as he stood. "Like I said Naruto, I just want to be a good father, I am done being an avenger of the clan, now I have to be a leader of it."

Naruto laughed "fine then, but like I said you do anything...and I mean ANYTHING that leads me to believe you are going back to your ways...I will tear you to pieces He growled then he turned and began to leave. Sasuke called out "wait" he said. Naruto paused and turned not sure why he did. "I know...it's not much, and it won't do anything...but I'm sorry."

Naruto stared at him, his eyes...they were...really...no! it can't be...he's just acting like always...but still...he had hope for a second...no! no! He shook his head then bared his fangs "pieces Sasuke... pieces" He then turned and left without a word.

* * *

When Naruto got home he was still angry of what happened. He paced the living room floor back and forth, back and forth. It got him so riled up, he tried laying down but that didn't work. So he just paced the floor. Yume arrived home, she had begun to take healing classes from Sakura, she was rather good, she might not ever be as Gomeg, but she was good.

She watched him for a few seconds then spoke "something troubles you?" He grunted. She went up to him and rubbed against him, soothing his anger. He let himself get swept away in her scent and her eyes. She nuzzled and licked him making all his thoughts disappear. He sighed "it's just someone...who caused me great pain from my past...has showed up again."

She nodded "I see, well do not worry, I will make sure that no pain will befall you, that is what a mate does." He smiled "you do have that ability" he said thoughtfully then sighed "I might as well go lay down, tell me about your day."

* * *

Chen Tekeshi sat in front of his fire. He absently ate the smoked bear. He thought deeply about many things, mostly just the future...and that damned wolf. It mocked him everywhere he went, every plan had been dashed by that demon. That white creature that had rose out of the snow and stolen the scroll that they had stolen themselves.

Luckily they were able to repay the demon back by taking away the children he so foolishly led against him, however Tekeshi did not escape unscathed from that affair. The bloody demon had stolen one of his eyes in return. He ripped a large piece of bear off and began to chew it in anger. He put a hand up to the bandage that covered the gruesome opening that was left of his eye.

He contemplated further into the night, until one of his men came to him. "Sir...we have a visitor" This was odd, no one had ever arrived. He nodded to the man. The man bowed to him and exited his tent flap. A satisfactory wolf skin served as his tent flap. Tekeshi looked up, his hut was simple yet elegant in his design.

Everything was made of oiled wood. (Oiled from the fat of bear) His bed was made of different animal furs. His floor was covered in weaved rugs. They depicted different scenes from their culture and religion, the history of their clan. Then a figure emerged at the entrance. It was a women by the looks of it. She had a small child with her, a boy about two or three from the looks of it.

Both were bundled in traveling cloaks. The women's face was hidden beneath the scowl of her hood. Tekeshi rose and greeted them "good evening, are you lost?" he asked. The women chuckled, her voice gave Tekeshi the picture of a white ice fox, laughing at prey caught in it's paws. She removed her hood, "my name is Usumi Suki...and no I am not lost...I have a proposition for you."

Tekeshi was confused by this "what makes you think you have something that I want." Suki smiled her teeth shining. "let's just say, if you accept it, you can finally have revenge against that demon." Tekeshi was surprised how did she know this? Suki walked over to the fire and began to warm herself up. She snapped her head "Teiku! come here" the boy followed her.

She turned back to the him "you and I both have a common enemy, that demon destroyed my work and killed my lover, and Konoha backs the demon, they back all demon's it is sickening." Tekeshi nodded and walked over "would you like meat or drink?" he asked her. She smiled "thank-you that would be lovely." He fixed up some goat milk for the boy then gave the women some mulled cider.

She smiled at him. "so what is your plan exactly?" the women was silent for a bit, she sipped the cider then spoke "destruction, I want to take down that demon and the village he serves." Tekeshi shook his head "their numbers are to strong." Suki smiled "we have numbers ourselves, and we also have another thing...science, and religion."

Tekeshi glanced at her "what does religion have to do with it?" Suki smiled "don't ask question's just say yes, and I can guarantee, that soon that wolf will bow at your feet." She said her eyes sparking. Tekeshi smiled the thought appeased him. Suki smiled "sit and I will explain, exactly our plans, you are not the only one, that wolf has wronged." Then she grinned fully, Tekeshi could not help but grin back.

* * *

**Mwahahahahaha I bet you had forgotten about old Suki? What can I say in my stories even the most random of people and things can be epic plot twists in my story.**

**You can never predict what I am going to do. You can never assume anything, this old horse can throw off even the most experienced of riders. Now to all those who keep asking what's next...don't I will reveal it to you in the next chapter, all things good comes to those who can, wait.**

**NSW**


	61. The Prophet

**Life as A Fox**

**Chapter 60**

**NSW-The Forsaken Author of the Lost Story (see my bio for explanation)**

**OMG CHAPTER 60! YAY!**

**ATTENTION, LOOKING FOR QUESTIONS FOR THE Q AND A SOON, NEED QUESTIONS TO ANSWER TO, PLEASE SPAM ME, I DON'T CARE I NEED SOMETHING TO DO, PLEASE AND THANKS...WRITING IN CAPS LOCK IS FUN...WEEEEEEEEEEE!**

* * *

Shikamaru gave the vendor his money. He was dressed in normal civilian clothes, even though he was just returning from a mission. He had decided it was too hot to wear the ungodly hot vest and black long-sleeved shirt and pants ninja wore underneath it. He picked up his purchase and noticed a gathering of the crowd. The market was busy today in this small little town.

So Shikamaru had to wait for two ladies walking on platform getas, and wearing long elaborate bright Kimonos. Their faces were painted in the normal geisha fashion and their hair was done up in such way that made Shikamaru wonder how it was possible to make hair stay like that that. He walked forward, the ground was dry and dusty, they needed rain soon.

Shikamaru passed through the growing crowd. All about the people were abuzz with excitement, mothers holding their children's hands and balancing goods on their hips while they waited patiently next to traders and merchants; who, in turn, were trying to take advantage of the possible buyers. Shikamaru also saw a few mangy little boys, working their delicate little fingers on people's purses.

One had tried to do his to him, but Shikamaru had caught him with a deft hand then said "Try asking next time." Then he dropped his change into the child's hand. The child's fingers were dirty, along with his face, and his greasy mop of hair was tucked up underneath a stingy old cap. His clothes looked like they came from the trash (which they probably had) and he had no shoes. But the kid still held his hands out and they curved greedily, like claws for the change. The boy's eyes for a moment brightened in thankfulness as he backed away slowly. Then, taking care to hide the money from other pickpockets' eyes, he dashed away into a back ally.

Shikamaru turned back to the phenomenon going on, he just wanted to see what had people so stirred. Then a little girl next to her mom spoke "Is it true? That the prophet is going to speak today?" Shikamaru's heart skipped a beat. The prophet, they had heard rumors and stories of this man. He rose up out of nowhere, claiming to be touched by the Gods. He spoke out proclaiming their will.

Shikamaru and most in Konoha would have ignored this if it weren't for the fact that he spoke out against demons, telling all that it was man's destiny to wipe them from this earth. This caused many problems as you can guess. In some places, ninjas with signed summoning contracts with demons had been either murdered, or forced to abandon their contracts.

A man who managed to run away before this had happened to him had fled to Konoha - that was how they first learned about this 'prophet'. Somehow people were taking what this man said to heart, he was...popular; the rambling of a mad man, were in style apparently. Shikamaru shook his head, when would people learn to use their heads?

But the crowd went quiet as three men came on stage, two were obviously meant as guards. Shikamaru could tell by their stature and the way they scanned the crowd with their beady hawk-like eyes. Shikamaru casually stood to the side, hiding himself behind a cloth vendor's cart. Then, peeking through two piles of different cloth, Shikamaru watched as the middle man stood out front on stage.

He wore a long brown cloak, edges tinged with fur, and a gold necklace with the symbol for the Eleventh God, the god of humanity. The man himself was older then Shikamaru, perhaps in his thirties or even forties. He wasn't a tall man, but still something crackled about him. He held a certain authority in his stance.

His eyes scanned the crowd as he held up his hands for silence. Shikamaru shivered. His eyes...they looked as though they knew something, something no one else knew. Could it be possible? That he could have been touched by the Gods? Shikamaru didn't see how, of course - he could only see one side of the man's face.

The man, he also noted, had a small beard upon his chin, but it was neat and tidy, well groomed. It had been cut with precision and jutted out exactly a half of an inch from his chin; its width just as long. It reminded Shikamaru of a goat scruff only...neater. It reminded Shikamaru of the beards that rulers of a far-off desert land had.

Shikamaru remembered reading such tales in his father's library. How they were adorned with linen clothes and kohl around the eyes. When they were boys they would only have one patch of hair shaven, the rest of their head was bald, and only when they were a man could they cut that hair off. Shikamaru shook thought from mind.

Then the man's head turned, and Shikamaru realized why people called him 'touched' by the gods. For upon the left side of his face looked to be a perfect hand print, not a scar, but a birthmark. It covered the complete left half of his face. The palm ending just above the lips, and the fingers stretched out across the eye and up the forehead, the thumb of the hand ended exactly in the middle of the man's temple.

The man smiled and spoke. "Brothers and sister' of the family of humanity, I come before you today only as a humble servant of our creator's word." The man spoke, a silence descending over the people. Shikamaru stared out at them, all of them were like dumbstruck beasts; their eyes glossy, their mouths lax as they drank in his words.

The man continued, and Shikamaru listened. "I have became known to some as 'the prophet', but I can say this now, I am no prophet." 'You got that right' Shikamaru thought "I am meerly doing that which the Eleventh god has commanded us, he speaks to us from his scriptures! The knowledge my friends is free for the taking, you need only to see."

The man turned and held up a golden scroll, which he unrolled and read aloud from. "So the creator of man went down among his people. They were afraid of him and his bright glory and they hid. But the god called out to them and spoke: 'Fear not my children, you need not fear me nor any of the Gods' creations. You need not fear even death.'"

The prophet continued. Shikamaru had to admit, this guy could tell a story. "One man spoke out to the god. 'If we need not fear you nor death, then what shall we fear?' The god turned to the man and brought him close to his side. 'The thing which you shall fear is the creatures of ungodly creation, created by the Thirteenth goddess, the one who fell from favor. She has created vile creatures, creatures that can come in at night and take the souls of your childre. They feed off of blood and sacrifice and grow more powerful because of it. Take heed to my warning and go out among your people and arm them with precious metal from deep within the earth. Take the metal and go out and hunt these creatures down; drive them from the lands with fire and blood. Only then can you be free from all fear."

The prophet looked up "Don't you see? We are supposed to drive demons from our lands! That was the duty given to us." One man spoke up "but, does he say demons specifically? Also how are we to know what is a demon and what is not?" The prophet smiled. "You ask good questions my friend, and I can give you answers in return."

The prophet flipped the scroll open to another part. He spoke: "...and so the humans went out and searched for the creatures who were given the names 'demons' by the demonic goddess herself. But no matter where they went no demon could be found. The humans grew disheartened and cried out to their god. He heard their pleas and came down among them once more."

"The god then turned to them and asked 'What troubles you my children?' the people cried out and said 'we are unable to find any of these creatures, long and hard have we searched.' The god chuckled and spoke 'Demons are clever, they hide themselves with the forms of animals, but they can soon be found out.' The god then grabbed two rabbits who watched nearby. The god took them in his hands and spoke 'Demons will call out to you in your tongue, beg you to stop and trick you into letting them live, do not be fooled by their powers.'"

The prophet took a break and continued. "The god then began to crush the rabbits and sure enough his blessed words were made true, the rabbits cried out in human voices. The god laughed and killed them, the humans then went out into the fields and forests and captured many animals, some were found to be demons and others the humans kept and slowly the humans began to tame the beasts of the wild."

The man spoke. "So you see, my people, if it were not for our ways, we would have been slaughtered in our sleep by not have domesticated the animals of this world." He looked to all of them "It is our duty to rid this land of them, you may say that the valiant ninja of this world have gotten power over demons but it is not so, the demons only use them as tools, we must ride the demons, do you people not know the tales?"

The man continued "I have visited a clan, deep within the mountains. I have heard the tales of what they had went throug., a demon had came into their midst, and when he did so, the clan became to befall great and terrible curses. Their numbers fell rapidly, this once peace loving clan was almost destroyed by this one demon."

He still spoke. "They were not the only one to have pain befall them. A women came to me, with young son, explaining to me, that a demon had come into their home and destroyed their livelihood and ripped the women's lover from her arms." The man was quiet, and for a few minutes there was dead silence. Then he went on. "All of these horrifying acts were done by the same demon, a demon that lives freely and is hailed as a hero, within the walls of Konoha." The people gasped and Shikamaru looked about, the man continued gaining confidence. "The village has seen fit to grant demons a safe 'haven!' A place where they can live and breed! Gain power to overthrow all that is good and just!"

The man spoke "Will you allow this to happen?Wwill you allow for demons to someday walk among you? Commanding you at will with their vile tongues? Will you allow them to simply take all that you hold dear from you?" The people grew angry, they shouted 'NO' to each of his questions. Shikamaru felt a slow sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

The man smiled "I thought not. Then join with me my friends, join back with your god, serve him gladly and let us overthrow these abominations from our world...forever!" A cheer went up from all around. Shikamaru was unnerved at how quickly the crowd got sucked in, how they now cried out for blood and war when only a few seconds ago they were crying out prices for their supplies. Shikamaru waited until the fervor went down then he went to his hotel, hid his clothes in his sac and ran as fast as he could towards home.

* * *

He first made a quick stop in town - a place that always brought up hard memories, the house of Kurenai sensei. He could hear her humming in the kitchen as he opened up the gate and walked up the stone path-way to the small, cottage-like house. He knocked on the door, and she called out "Come in Shikamaru" He smirked she always knew it was him.

He entered and removed his shoes; she came to him, her hair tied back in a messy ponytail. She wore an apron. "I was just cutting vegetables, would you join us for lunch?" Shikamaru shook his head "I have to report in from a mission, I just came to drop something off." He took out the toy he had purchased in the market.

Kurenai smiled and called out. "Asagi! Shikamaru is here!" The sound of excited little foot prints ran their way to them. "Shikamaru!" The boy screamed with happiness. He had his fathers hair and skin color, along with his father's eye shape; but his eye color belonged to his mother. Shikamaru handed him the toy, Asami squealed and hugged him.

Shikamaru held him and hugged him back, he ruffled Asami's hair. "You spoil him too much." Kurenai said, laughing. Shikamaru smiled. "I spoil him just like his father spoiled me." Kurenai smiled softly at the thought. "I know, he did, but life still moves on Shikamaru Now you better report in for your mission and...you get those wedding invites out soon." Shikamaru laughed. "Yeah I know, I know...but it's not going to be a while yet, we have to wait for her citizenship papers come through."

Kurenai gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek,;then Shikamaru was off on his way.

* * *

Yume nuzzled up to Naruto in the shade of the tree. He breathed in her scent deeply as he rested his head on her side. He could only imagine that in awhile if he did that soon little feet would be kicking at him. He smiled, he had done it, or rather, they had done it. They had taken being mates a step further and now Yume was expecting.

He was not going to go into detail of what had transpired between the two of them on those nights. He knew people spoke of what happened and wrote it down, but he thought it was too beautiful and intimate to say in words, other then the fact that it was the most wonderful experience he had ever had; to be one with the person you love in body, soul and heart.

He had always feared how he would go about...well...mating, but he found that, if he didn't think about it and just closed his eyes, just let his body do what was instinct what happened...well happened. Sometimes your head just got in the way of things. As he and Yume dozed, the world was perfect. Everything was, and nothing could possibly change it.

* * *

"NO! Shikamaru, no! I don't want him knowing. I've kept it from him for a reason! He doesn't need to know about these things...not now. He and Yume are expecting." Shikamaru sighed angrily. "You think I don't know that? Naruto screamed it from the top of his lungs for all of Konoha to hear." Hinata smiled at the memory, it was true. After all of Naruto's punishments had cleared up, Yume had went into heat.

All of them were unsure of what would happen next but few were surprised when one morning Naruto could be heard shouting. "I'm gonna to be a dad!" at the top of his lungs on top of the Hokage monument. Hinata watched the couple outside as Shikamaru spoke. "He needs to know." Hinata nodded. "I know, but they seem so happy and content right now, do they need to worry?"

Shikamaru shrugged "It's just a religious thing that has started, it can easily be taken care of; they're not that big, but who knows people might grow out of it. They only like it because it's new...and they're idiots." Shikamaru said. Hinata nodded. "True, true, but wait for them to come inside...let them dream." Shikamaru nodded.

* * *

**I am sorry to say that this will be the only chapter for awhile, I will be busy the next week or so, adjusting to my new life, and so will my beta. But after that I think we can settle down and begin to type, so until then...I will let you dream.**

**NSW**


	62. Darkining Storm

**Life as A Fox**

**Chapter 61**

**NSW-The Forsaken Author of the Lost Story (see my bio for explanation)**

**ATTENTION, LOOKING FOR QUESTIONS FOR THE Q AND A SOON, NEED QUESTIONS TO ANSWER TO, PLEASE SPAM ME, I DON'T CARE I NEED SOMETHING TO DO, PLEASE AND THANKS...WRITING IN CAPS LOCK IS FUN...WEEEEEEEEEEE!**

* * *

Yume whimpered once more, Naruto soothed her by licking her shoulder gently. "It's okay, we will be fine, we are safe." he said softly to her, to be honost Naruto himself was feeling sceared, religious cults had formed before, but nothing to the degree like this, and is seemed as though they had a death wish for him.

Naruto shivered, he was an importent person to the village, but that didn't mean they would stand by nad fight for him. Sure if he was Uzumaki Naruto, yes. But he wasn't that anymore he was Fluffy, he may be importent but he could be expendable.

"Burt what about the pups?" she asked suddenly "they will be fine" he told her, "they are safe here, no one no matter how strong can take on our village and be victorious, not even the nine-tailed fox." Yume nodded "I hope you are right, I hope they are safe."

Naruto assured her "they will be, and so will you, you haveme remember?" he said making a small smile form on her lips. He nudged her and they settled around each other for sleep.

* * *

Shikamaru stood before the Hokage, Kakashi, was silent for a long while before he spoke. "Okay, here is what we will do." Shikamaru listened intently. "I will contact both Gaara and the Raikage Killer Bee, and I will see if they have any information, then I will send one of the best spies we have."

Shikamaru nodded "excellent, we better make sure of what this is exactly before we jump to conclusions." Kakashi nodded agrreing with him "I suppose I had better withdraw any mission in that area, something tells me ninja from Konoha are not safe there."

Shikamaru nodded and left. Kakashi turned towards his windows and looked out upon his village, scanning it, then looking out to the horizon, dark clouds formed. "I wonder what kind of storm is coming" he said to himself silently.

* * *

The storm that came was very weak at first, the winds could barely even move the leaves. But the days went by and they slowly built up strength, the prophet and the followers of the Twelfth god grew in strength by traveling to small countries that held grudges against the leaf village.

Sound, Rock, River,Rice and all the small countries. All of them had always been pushed and shoved around, they had small numbers and were berated and controlled by the larger contries. They were lands filled with people that clung to traditonal ways, spurring away modern technologies and ideologies they banded together and formed a force that now began to hold a threat.

Kakashi had sent ambassadors, to see if they could make peace, Kakashi did not want another war, he did not want to see people he loved die anymore, it was a sad and awful thing. But his ambassadors either went missing, showed up dead or barely alive.

Kakashi had to push away his emotions, for on the battlefield and in war, one cannot have emotion. He sighed and resigned that he would have to contact and breath the contract that binded Suna and the Lightening country to him in war.

Both Suna and Kumo had told of the same sects within their lands as well. Some of Suna and Kumo nin had even went missing, beleived to have cut their ties and betray their countries. All in all the storm was growing and it was going to be a bad one.

Kakashi sighed, he knew war was coming, but he would not send his troops out to find it, he would wait. Wait for them to make the first move. Gaara and Bee agreed. The few spies they had sent to the base camps of the Twelfth followers had all sent back news that they would strike Konoha first.

So Kakashi told them that they would just wait and see if this rampent fire would burn itself out before it even started to burn the leaves.

However, not all was terrible in Konoha, in this darkening storm there were times when the sun peaked through the clouds to illuminate and bring to light a happy event. One of those events was the birth of three demon wolf pups.

* * *

Over the weeks Yume had gotten larger and larger as the life inside her unfolded and grew. Both parents were both worried and happy about the fact that they would bring new life into the world. However it seemed to feel to them as if that day would never come. Yume was anxtious and always uncomfertable all the time, she longed for the day when she would not have to menuver herself just to lie down.

Naruto helped out the best he could, make sure she was comfy, bring her food and bring her what she needed. He was always by her side. It wasn't for awhile befor she felt the pangs of longing for something, she felt restless, like she needed to search for something. So she would circle about the house and the yard looking for that thing, the4 thing she had no idea she was looking for.

Then the day happened, it wasn't any perticuler day, it was sunny and warm, but also had a nice cool breeze to it. Yume and Naruto were just sleeping when it happened, that small kick then the feeling afterwards in her stomach and in her heart when she knew, she just_ knew_ that the pups were on their way.

She turned to Naruto then and told him. He bolted up and ran for Kiba, who ran for his sister, while Hinata ran to Yume to help her. They situated Yume on a large clean mat. Naruto ran about fetching supplies as Hinata and Hana when she arrived listed them off in rapid speed. Naruto ran about until all supplies were gathered. Then he sat by Yume side and gave her encouragment and whispered words of love upon her, as he layed thosands of kisses upon her brow.

The first pup came quickly, it was a small little thing. Hana declared it a boy after sometime of cleaning it off. The pup squirmed about, it's eyes closed shut, the fur coloring was hard to disern since it was still wet, but it seemed to have either a dark blonde fur or light tan like his mothers only a shade or two darker.

Hana nestled the wreithing pup next to Yume's stomach Yume licked it once in recognition then began to push for the next pup on the way. Naruto licked both his first born son and his mate he felt happy feeling that small little heart-beat beneath him. Yume strained for another half hour before the next was born.

It was a larger pup compared to the other one who was already snuggling into Yume's side for milk. Hana declared that one a girl then placed it next to Yume's side as well. The girl had dark russet fur, but with a white chest and belly. She also had a small tip of white on her tail, and her ears had a little shade of black to the tips.

Naruto licked his daughter and breathed in her sweet scent. The last pup gladily came quickly, for he was the smallest of the litter. He barely spanned across Hana's two hands. However Hana declared that it was okay, and that with enough milk and love he would grow. He was a perfect little white fluff ball that began to whimper and moan quite loudly and quickly beat his sister to a teat for milk.

Naruto and Yume lay curled around each other and looked upon their pups, three perfect little pups. Kiba and Hinata congratulated them both and gave Yume a special tea to drink to help her recover. They then left the couple alone to name their pups. Naruto and Yume decided to go in order and looked to the pup who was born first. He had dried now and his coat was revealed to be a deep blonde like weat, he also had a white front left paw.

Naruto looked at him and the name came to him, the shade of the fur was just the same as his fathers hair. "Yume, I think we should call him Minato" Yume glanced to him "Minato, hnmmmm it sounds like a nice name, it flows good, is their a story to this name?" Naruto nodded "my fathers name...was Minato, he was strong and smart, and had the largest heart."

Yume nodded "yes, he sounds like a great wolf, very well...we shall name him Minato." Naruto licked her then little Minato. He whispered into the little pups ears "welcome to the world my son, my little Minato, you will grow to be a great wolf" the pup whimpered in answer. Naruto chuckled then turned to the next pup, the girl.

Yume spoke "I remember the stories that you spoke of, and your students, I always admired Gin, her caring and the love she could give, I would like to name her Gin, is that okay with you?." Naruto spoke up "Yes" he said almost crying "naming her Gin would be...beautiful, it would make me so happy."Yume licked Naruto then Gin.

Naruto nodded and licked his little Gin as well, then they turned to the youngest pup, "he reminds me of you so much, only his fur is more white then yours, it's pure and even whiter then snow." Naruto nodded "Ma, is pure, and snow is Shiro...how about...Mashi?" Yume nodded "yes, Mashi, it is perfect."

Naruto looked to his mate then to his pups, Minato,Gin and Mashi. They were perfect. It didn't matter if there was darkness forming or a storm coming, at the moment all that mattered to him in this very second was his mate and these little pups. He looked to the sunlight streaming through the window and he spoke "I will always protect you."


	63. Your Turn

**Life as A Fox**

**Chapter 62**

**NSW-The Forsaken Author of the Lost Story (see my bio for explanation)**

**ATTENTION, LOOKING FOR QUESTIONS FOR THE Q AND A SOON, NEED QUESTIONS TO ANSWER TO, PLEASE SPAM ME, I DON'T CARE I NEED SOMETHING TO DO, PLEASE AND THANKS...WRITING IN CAPS LOCK IS FUN...WEEEEEEEEEEE!**

* * *

Life was good with pups, until they learned to walk and explore. Of course though they couldn't help it, it was their instinct to do so. Their eyes had began to open, and when they did, this strange new thing called 'light' filtered through the thin skin folds of their eyes. They wanted to explore this thing, even though it was constant around them, they did not know this.

Their world consisted of smells and warmth, the smell and feel of their mother, the milk giver. She was always near them, giving them the warmth they craved. She was also always there to feed them, something they did most of the day, feeding and sleeping in her warmth. Taking in her scent, engraving it into memory, taking in her voice their small little ears picked up each noise she made.

She cuddled them and ran something wet and warm over their bodies cleaning them and messaging them. Another scent would join her and mingle with them, one that smelled different, no milk, but still they felt a sense of attachment and importance in this other body. It was warm as well and they felt protected and safe when he was near, their mother as well was always happy when he was near, so they soon learned that if he was nearby life was happy and good.

They soon learned to crawl faster, their limbs shook as they almost stood all the way up. Their small little paws scrabbled and got tangled in the blankets. Each day they made it their goal to make it to the edge of this troublesome soft bedding beneath them, one had found out that beyond that was a cold smooth surface, but no matter how far they got, the pesky milk giver would grab them by their scruff and bring them back to her side.

At first they were content with this, but after awhile they wanted to escape this, they tried to escape those jaws and get to their goal. Each day their eyes opened more and more, filtered and saw more and more. The world was big to them, and so was their milk mother. She splayed out like a giant and towered above them.

The other one. Their protector was even larger. He would come in and help capture them as well, and although they grew to need these two giants they began to whimper and cry when they did this, all they wanted to do was to explore this world! Their were so many noises and sounds, so many smells and now even sights!

Their legs had grown stronger and their bodies larger they tumbled and tripped over themselves and each other but they were making it. They yapped and yipped to each other, even began to play somewhat with each other. They bonded with their siblings and with their parents as they came to know them, the life bringers.

Their father played with them more then their mother, the milk giver was weary of ever being with them and taking care of them, soon the milk giver would leave and father would come in and watch over them and play. They were now allowed to travel the entire span of the place they were in. Four large hard things bordered the place.

No matter how hard or how fast you ran against them they would not move. So they had to stay content, however they had figured out that their mother and father left through a strange thing that moved. It swung in and out and allowed their parents to leave, why couldn't they? They had tried to figure out how to push the thing and even tried to get under the crack of it.

But to no avail, they had to wait once more for their parents to decide when they could leave. But they had noticed that their was more things in the world then just them. The high pitched screaming of another pup filled the house sometimes and weird strange noises that sometimes made sense and sometimes did not make sense filled the air.

Finally one day their father called to them, they had learned that each of them had a special sound, and that when their parents said that sound, they were to come, little did they know that these were the basic building elements of recognizing their names.

They scampered over to their father. Their paws scuffling on the ground. Their father stood above them smiling down at them. He spoke words to them in those strange yet not strange voice. They couldn't really understand what he said, but he said it in a happy and proud way. Then the moving object opened and they were aloud to see into the outside part of the world.

* * *

Naruto looked down to his pups. They looked about with wide eyes to the hallway. The crept close to him afraid to lose him as if something was going to come out and attack them. He laughed which frightened them and they cowered closer to him. He nudged them and consoled them. They grew back some of their confidence. They now were each the size of at least a small cantaloupe, they also had energy to spare.

Mashi, even though he was the smallest, was the most bravest and was the leader of his siblings. They followed him down the hall they stopped and randomly would bark at something in their little yipping voices. Naruto would nudge them along as he herded them to the living room. The made it, it actually took some time, it was hard to keep track of the three.

They finally made it. Hinata, Sakura, Ino, Kiba, Hime and Gomeg were there. The pups yipped and tried hiding behind Naruto's paws, then they slowly peeked out from behind his legs. Naruto chuckled and leaned down and nudged them. Yume had came out and had lay down in the living room. The pups quickly ran to her and hid in the folds of her body.

Naruto walked over to them "Everyone, I would like you to meet my children, my eldest son" he said nudging Minato "Minato" Then he turned "my daughter" he said and delicately licked her he was sad for a second "Gin" Hinata nodded understanding "and Mashi, out little warrior" Mashi popped his head out and turned his head he saw Gomeg.

Mash yapped and bristled his fur. Everyone laughed which made Mashi shrink. Naruto licked the pup. "I am so happy for you both" Sakura said. Naruto nodded "thank-you, we are as well." Gomeg bent his head and held out a claw, he gently touched Mashi's head, Mashi looked dazed for a second. Gomeg whispered in a rapid demon then with a small glowing he removed his claw.

He did this to the other pups. "What is that?" Naruto asked "I am only blessing them, and asking that the demon goddess look over and protect them, something that is usually done for all demons born, its more of a tradition then anything." Naruto nodded "thank-you" he said bowing his head. Gomeg grinned.

Then Mashi bit Gomegs finger. It didn't cause any harm or damage, it was just surprising on the old badger. He jumped slightly. "what the- why you little, off my finger!" then he removed the pup from his finger then sternly but also softly flicked Mashi's muzzle so he would learn to not do it again.

Hinata and the others giggled at this. Mashi shook his head and turned to them, he barked in his little voice. "Well at least we know who he took after" Naruto blushed but smiled. Yume chuckled then brought the pup in close "Mashi my pup, shhhh, no more of this." Mashi quieted down.

Minato slid off of his mothers back then slowly made his way to Kibas shoe he sniffed it. Kiba leaned down, Minato backed away, then after a bit came forword. He sniffed Kiba's hand, then tentively licked it. Gin followed over and joined her brother in exploring this strange warm yet salty object.

Hinata leaned down; Gin looked up at her. Gin barked once then began to pounce on Kiba's hand. Naruto walked over and gave them both a stern bark, the stopped. Hinata spoke "may I?" she asked "of course, of course" he said.

Hinata leaned down and picked up little Gin delicately. Gin was surprised by this, she whimpered Naruto leaned forward and licked her, instilling her with confidence. Gin hushed as Hinata gently cradled her. Gin stared up into this strange creatures eye.

They were pale and had fur only on the top of their heads. They had flat faces and dull flat teeth. But something about them seemed nice, welcoming, warm and safe, exspecially this one, that cradled her like a mother, she smelled faintly of milk as well, was this creature a mother as well?

Then a smaller creature that looked somewhat like the one that held her joined her. It giggled and leaned down and began to put it's strange paws on Gin, it was a weird sensation as those paws began to rub them like their mothers tongue did, but it felt good and she grew to like it.

Hime petted Gin softly as Hinata held her. "Puppy" Hime said. "Thats right it is a puppy, but this is a special puppy, this is Gin, this is Naruto and Yume's daughter so you have to be nice." Hime nodded somewhat understanding. Kiba picked up Minato.

Minato sat in Kiba's lap then looked out at everyone, he liked being tall like this, he could look right into his fathers eyes. He a small smile, his first. Then he barked at his father. Naruto chuckled "all ready challenging me? Thats my boy." Naruto said then licked his son.

Mashi was not going to have his rein upsurped he would be the lead pup so he quickly bounded up and quickly clawed his way up Gomegs back then stood on Gomegs head. He barked loudly. Gomeg looked up "Naruto I do believe your son is sitting on my head."

Naruto grinned "so it appears, well thats okay, besides isn't it your turn to mush?" Gomeg glowered at him. Naruto laughed. Mashi cocked his head then began to situate himself, then before you knew it he had leaped from Gomeg's head to Naruto's back.

Naruto caught his son, then Mashi stood on Naruto's back. He barked at Naruto. Gomeg spoke "no, I do believe it is your turn Naruto." Naruto sighed in defeat as the rest of them laughed.

* * *

**Something short and cute, hope you liked.**

**College is going well I am having a blast, like I said chapters will come slowly until I get internet at my dorms.**

**NSW**


	64. Why the shoes?

**Life as A Fox**

**Chapter 63**

**NSW-The Forsaken Author of the Lost Story (see my bio for explanation)**

**ATTENTION, LOOKING FOR QUESTIONS FOR THE Q AND A SOON, NEED QUESTIONS TO ANSWER TO, PLEASE SPAM ME, I DON'T CARE I NEED SOMETHING TO DO, PLEASE AND THANKS...WRITING IN CAPS LOCK IS FUN...WEEEEEEEEEEE!**

* * *

Kiba yawned as he leaned down to put on his shoes, only instead of shoes he felt something wet and ragged. He sighed as he looked down at what was left of his shoes. He didn't need to study the bites to know that three small wolf demon pups had done this.

He groaned this was the third pair in a month. "Naruto!" Kiba yelled. Naruto ran to him, a pup hanging off of him. "Y...yes?" he asked as another pup suddenly came out of nowere and began to attack his paw. Kiba held up the remains of the shoe.

Naruto groaned inwardly. "I am sorry Kiba, I have told them not to-" Mashi pounced onto Naruto's back, he grunted. "Okay that is it!" he yelled. He barked harshly, the pups scampered away from him, they loved to play with him and challenge him but they were still afraid of him when he was angry.

He glared at them "What did I say about chewing on the shoes?" he asked them. Gin spoke in simpe demon tongue to him, it was the only language they knew at the moment, human was buried in their brain, they just were not old enough as of yet to access it.

"We sorry papa, we know we not supposed too, but at least we chewed only one?" She asked hoping that it was forgivable, Naruto sighed, he could not be angry with her. He turned to Kiba "they only chewed one this time." Kiba looked down and noted that it was true, he sighed "well, I guess that's a start." Kiba then stood and went to the closet and grabbed an extra pair he always had on hand.

Kiba left after saying good-bye to Hinata and Hime. The pups scampered about the house throughout the day, luckily they had stopped breaking stuff, mostly due to the fact that they had moved everything that could be broken to the closet for storage.

Hime and the pups played in the living room, while Naruto and Yume dropped to their pillow in complete exhuation. "Who knew pups would be so...hyper?" Yume grunted "I had somewhat of an idea, but these pups are so different from wolf pups, true we don't have to worry about food, but we have to worry about them chewing on stuff and them making their leavings in the house."

Naruto nodded and sighed "it's only going to get tougher, I have to go back to work soon, I am so sorry that I have to leave you alone with them all day, but when I get home you can rest and I will watch them okay?" Yume nodded "I know, but you don't go back to work until another few weeks right?"

Naruto nodded and gave her a lick on the muzzle "hopefully they mellow out by then" Yume smiled "it would be a dream come true." Naruto smirked "your a dream come true." Yume blushed and giggled. Naruto and Yume dozed for a bit until the pups decided to play with them.

* * *

Somewhere in the confines of a base camp, hidden in a secret forest, a group of men and one lone women stood around a table. Upon the table was a odd assortment of different objects, they were on the table just to serve the purpose of keeping a map from blowing away and to stop it from infuriatingly curl up all the time.

"What are our numbers so far?" One man asked, he was a middle aged man, but still held the vigor of youth, but he also held the wise experiance of all his years of being a ninja, he kept his cool no matter what, and thought criticlly and intelluctually about every move, as though the battlefield was a game of chess.

This made him a good general, he did not attach himself to his troops, he did not have emotions, he did what needed to be done, which is why he was made a Kumo Anbu at the age of twenty, he however had always disliked demons and the idea of them, he exspecially hated the fact that his Raikage had one, the demon the Raikage held was the very same one that had killed his father, and he would never forgive that un-godly race.

He held himself with a quiet dignified reserve as he studied the map, the wall would be hard to breach, he knew that, every village knew that, the wall of Konoha was special, it was made of a very powerful and strong binding substance, it also could be fortified by use of chakra making it even harder to penetrate.

He absently spoke the answer to the question the prophet had asked "Our numbers are around almost 700 nin, most chunin rank and Jounin, another 60 or so are special jounin and Anbu rank." The prophet pursed his lips and glanced to them, "what of their numbers?"

There was a silence as one man, another general, older then the prophet, a he had a black cane with him, but few knew that within that cane was housed a hidden sword that he was quite trained in using. He had a white beard that reminded them all of a dragons beard.

His hair was long and tied up into a top not that had an embellished hair peices holding it up. His back was arrow strait and he stood with his hands clasped behind his back. He studied them with calculating eyes. He spoke frankly. "Our numbers do out-number Konoha nin by two hundred, but...they also have allies of Kumo and Suna, that greatly outrank our own, not to mention they have many who house very strong blood-traits, the Kazekage himself could take on half an army with his sand manipulation."

The prophet pursed his lips "We are taking the fight to Konoha, their ground is made of a compact dirt, not sand, can he use that?" The older man was silent as he assesed the map "we are...unsure, most likely no, because when ever he travles he must carry sand with him, so I am guessing he probably can't use Konoha's ground for his own."

The women, Suki spoke "fret not, I have something that will work in our favor." She then took out a vile. It contained a weird purple liquid. "What is that?" the prophet asked. "A dose of this, will make a person un-able to use chakra for an entire month, it won't work on demons sadly, their healing capabilities and their abilities in all five natures are to much for this to be effective."

She stepped forward "but all we would need is someone who is an excellent shot or very good at getting close, we could make all of the Kage's unable to battle if we desire, there is only enough for three." The prophet spoke "can we make more?" Suki shook her head, "the ingrediants for this, can only be made from the secretion of a special flower species in the south, however they only bloom every five years."

The prophet nodded "very well, we will have to make do, would it work on the Raikage?" Suki frowned "we have never tested it on the jinjuriki, it could be his normal chakra would be unusable, but he is one with the demon inside of him, he could simply just use the demons power as well."

The propehet frowned, "our forces are not a match for this, I must prey to our creator, I will see if he sends answer." The prophet left them. Suki turned to the other generals "religon is not the only thing we have he forgets, science also helps greatly."

She then turned and brought out a box, it was wooden and heavy but she managed. She set it on the table, it thudded loudly. She smirked as she opened the lid slowly, all of them gatherd, curious. Inside the box lay a large rock.

"what is it?" one of the generals asked. "It looks like some sort or rock." She grinned "lift it" ONe reached in and did so, it was light, it shimmered and sparkled in the sun, casting flecks of light into their faces. "This is no rock, it is a metal, very rare, hard to find, only exists in one place, however it exists their in a large quantity."

She lifted a small dagger "this dagger was made out of it." It was a shiny dagger, a blue sheen to its blade. She spoke "do I have a volenteer?" One mad stepped forward she nicked his left hand "try to cast chakra into that hand."

The man did so then crumbled to the ground as he groaned in agony. "The metal actully reacts to iron in blood, it weakens the blade on a microscopic level, and shards will break off and go into the blood stream, this is important because it then will begin to attack the chakra producing cells in the general area."

She grinned "try using chakra and it will feel as though someone is tearing you apart from the inside out, it will last for about two days on humans anyway, but demons...demons are pure chakra energy, if they get stabbed deep enough...they won't survive longer then two days, I call it demonsbane, for it kills demons easily."

One man spoke "how do you know?" Suki smiled "would you like a demonstration?" she whistled to one of her personal aids, they brought in a shaking crate. You could hear the sound of something screeching and growling from the inside.

One of her aids wore a glove as he opened the crate and stuck his hand in, he grunted and knitted his brow in concetration as he pulled out a wild ball of fur. It was a cat, a normal looking cat. It screeched and hissed yowling. "This is a demon cat, we found a few of them not to long ago, we have been testing them, here I will show you the true power of demonsbane."

She then took the dagger and stabbed the cat deeply in the ribs, the cat went silent then slowly, a strange thing began to happen to it. The fur in the area paled and decayed falling off of the cat, the skin beneath curled and wrinkled turning an ashen gray then black as black blood and sickly green pus poured from the wound.

The cat let a strangled cry out as it slowly decayed right before their eyes. All the fur fell off of it then it's entire body turned black and it withered and dried up in front of their eyes. Untill all that remained was a sickly dried corpse. The men stared at it.

The one who had been stabbed by the dagger glanced to his hand "do not fear, only demons are affected in such ways, you will live and keep your hand, demons will not." The men gulped "they will die that fast?" Suki shook her head "they will die like that only because I had stabbed the heart, the larger the demon the slower the decay, it also depends on the wound, if it is a graze, that limb or that area will decay, but it can be possible to rehabilitate it, that is why when you strike a demon with demonsbane...you tell your men to make sure they go for the kill."

The generals nodded and bowed to her "I only have enough weapons made for one larger dagger for each, make sure they use them well." The she grinned as she turned to their base camp, in front of her tents stood in picketed rows. The sounds and smells of a war camp fresh on her nose, she breathed it in, she loved this, the smell of camp food being prepared, the sound of the blacksmith in his temporary settings hammering away at armor and weapons.

The sound of ninja sparring and getting stronger, preparing themsleves for the war, then the sound of distant chanting and praying as the prohpet hailed and praised his god. She chuckled at the thought, religon was useful it managed to bring in the feeble minded, but science was better, science would be the leading factor in this war, not religon.

* * *

**Well there you have it, hope you liked, I don't have a beta anymore, well I do but I don't have the ability to send him chapters to proof read so I hope I am doing an okay job on grammer and spelling.**

**NSW**


	65. All Seemed Quiet

**Life as A Fox**

**Chapter 64**

**NSW-The Forsaken Author of the Lost Story (see my bio for explanation)**

**ATTENTION, LOOKING FOR QUESTIONS FOR THE Q AND A SOON, NEED QUESTIONS TO ANSWER TO, PLEASE SPAM ME, I DON'T CARE I NEED SOMETHING TO DO, PLEASE AND THANKS...WRITING IN CAPS LOCK IS FUN...WEEEEEEEEEEE!**

* * *

Yogensha Shinjin was always a simple person. He had grown up on a little farm as the only child of two parents who loved each other greatly. He did not have any extraordinary abilities, he was not a fighter or superior in anyway to anyone in anything really, he was an average likeable child.

It wasn't until his tenth year of life did his world change. It was a bitter winter and one of the cows had taken to sickness, it was one of the best of their herd so it greatly worried them, that cow was their livelihood-even though they had a large herd of forty or so.

They were local milk farmers. Providing milk to their small village that lay several miles away. This village housed many people; most of them descendents of goat herders and weavers, they had not changed much in their ways. They did not have any technology or electricity-such things were not needed and just extra waste.

No, the people that Shinjin had lived with were a simple folk, living by the old ways. They had a local temple full of young men from the village learning to be priests and healers. The women of the village learned to make and dye elaborate cloth to make beautiful robes and dresses for festival days.

They had a butcher and a blacksmith that shod horses and oxen, and even a few weapons to the hunters of the village-the closest thing they had to militia. Anyways it was a small village of close knit people and Shinjin and his family were quite important.

However this winter was harsh and their lead milk producer was sick- she was one of a certain breed that had a creamier milk, what you did is have most of the normal milk produce stalk, then you had one or two that made a more creamier frothy milk, you would mix that milk in with the base milk to give the milk in whole a better taste.

So this cow was important. All night his mother and father stayed with that cow, they had her housed in a separate little shed away from the main barn in hopes to stop the sickness from spreading to the others. Shinjin slept on his bunk which was a simple old feeding troph with a sac stuffed with hay for bedding.

The sheets were a heavy warm wool from the small herd of sheep that they also had. Shinjin slept peacefully until his dog-one of a bulky large sheep herding breed. Began to bark and growl. Shinjin awoke to the smell of burning. He had quickly scampered across the wood floor of his cottage home, his feet frozen and numb from the cold of the boards.

He dressed quickly for the cold of the air then ran outside, only to find that the little shed that both his parents had been in with the sick cow was engulfed in flame. He ran to the shed calling for his mom and dad, even though in his heart he knew that they were gone.

His dog had grabbed him by his woolen jacket his mother had given him only a few days ago- for he had outgrown the other. The dog pulled him away from danger, away from the flames. He tried to pull away from the dog but he was too small to fight back effectively. He thrashed and kicked in the snow, he beat his little fists upon the dogs chest, but the dog did not falter from his duty, it was his job to protect him.

He cried and sobbed, laying in the snow hugging that dog until deep in the afternoon when folk from town had saw the smoke in the early morning. By the time they had got there, the little shed was but a pile of ashes and coals, still yet smoking.

A family friend had taken Shinjin in his arms and carried him to the oxen cart, he placed Shinjin there and took a warm wool blanket and covered him, the dog, who's name to this day Shinjin could not remember had curled up beside him.

Shinjin was then forced to watch as his families business was sold off and all money went to payment for his life in the temple. He was allowed to keep that dog as company, which he did until by the time Shinjin was 18 the old companion finally passed on.

Shinjin was raised in the temple, and it was there he learned about true talents and abilities, on the night of his final exam, at the age of 16 he had did the writes of passage. If one feels god he is filled with compassion, if one hears god he is powerful and can instill those around him with hope, if one sees god he is given the sight of knowledge, but if one were to be touched by god-which no one in the village has ever had happen to them- then the one who is god touched is invincible and untouchable.

Shinjin was the latter- the first and last person of that town to be touched by a god. After that, the people he had grew up with, friends and people he cared for, feared him, they felt unworthy and strange to be near him. They stared at his scar-a 'gift' from the god and constantly were on edge around him, afraid that if they were to slight him, they would be smited down by the god who took favor upon him.

This was many years ago, and although there were times he longed to lead a normal life. He had thought if the fire had not happened he probably would still be on that farm, milking cows, probably would have met a girl, settled down, he could even have had a child or two by now, but his path-his destiny-was greater then that.

That is why Shinjin now sat on his knees in the middle of the circle of writes, incense and special branches burning and proper offerings given. He chanted and murmured words that had been engraved in his skull, his body saying them without him even thinking.

* * *

He prayed all through the night and into the morning, hoping his god would hear him and grant him favor. He prayed until his entire body screamed in protest of being in a hunched over position for so long. But he ignored it, he had been trained to ignore the pain of the body, the truest pain one should worry about is the pain of one's soul.

By late morning he was hit with a vision. All of a sudden he was in a place of pure light, radiating about. From out of the light came a god, he fell before him and applauded him, filled with happiness and fear. His god spoke, words so powerful he could not believe his bones were not shattered.

"My chosen, you have given me great loyalty and strength with your constant praying, I shall give you gifts, I have heard of your fears and anxieties, fear not, now rise and behold the wonders I have given."

Then like that the vision and splendor of his god was thankfully and regrettably gone. Shinjin slowly stood, giving his body time to adjust to the idea of moving again. He looked about, he did not see anything, maybe the gift was inside of them? New strength or resolve possibly?

But no, from out of the bushes something arose, at first he was in fear and dismay. It was a creature of pure white, glowing softly. It was a tall creature larger then normal wolves, it's face much sharper and it's eyes...pupiless, only two balls of glowing light.

It stalked forward growling lowly "we...serve...thee" It spoke in a raspy screeching voice. It sent his teeth on edge. "What are thee? A ghost or a creature of the night?" The creature shook it's head "we...are...of...light, gift to you...from your god...slowly we shall...gather...in numbers...pledge..ourselves...to...you we must"

The creature stalked forward it's long bony limbs and sharply spiked fur shaking in the sun. "What is the name you go by?" The creature was silent as it studied him, it looked at him, but not really, it was as if it was looking through him.

It was then Shinjin realized that this creature had a limited mind, it was like a drone, it moved in a mechanical way. "we go by...many names, you may call us...the Lumenion, creations...of your god, combined with the powers of...the goddess of animals, together...we...destroy...demons."

He nodded, fear dissipated, "very well. What is your name?" The creature stared at him "we do not have...names of indivduals...we...are...one..." Then more appeared slowly coming out of the tree's a pack of the strange creatures stood infront of him.

The creatures looked to the sky, Shinjin did as well. Something was coming, something larger, about the size of a man it came down, and landed. It was white as well. It had no eyes, instead it had a long gracefull crest that rose up from it's jaw, angeling back.

It's jaws themselves were filled with many sharp spiny teeth, it seemed to speak in clicks and odd resonating noises. It had human looking arms' only skinny and protruding, a thin flab of skin streched out over the bones like skin on a drum head.

It's fingers were strange, four of them, extra long, and ending in wild, gnarly looking talons. It was a frail looking creature, mostly bones and sagging skin. Yet it resonated with a power, five more fell down from the sky. The first creature spoke "Flying...Lumenion, they are...language...not understandable...to thee."

To answer, the first of the fliers screeched. Shinjin nodded. The lead Lumenion beast spoke once more "there are three breeds...of us...beasts of fields...is we" He said his fellow members closing in ranks about him. "The beasts of air..." He said nodding to the other strange creatures.

Then from out of the forest came another creature, massive in height, larger then a horse, but once again thinner, all of these creatures looked melnurished and half-starved. Bones jutting out from saggy skin. This new large creature had a long horse like face, but it to had large sharp canines poking from it's upper jaw.

They eyes were a dark gray while it's body was more of a curdled milk color. It had hooves but they splt like a goats or deer. On top of their head sat two large antlers, spreading out sideways like crested knarled branches of an oak tree.

It snorted and bleated as it came forward a few others following it out. "We...are...the...beasts...of the forest." It said, then did not speak after that. Shinjin nodded to each in turn "I thank the god's for giving and sending such splenderous gifts."

All the creatures bowed their heads in reverence to him, then each in turn pledged their allegiance to him and his cause.

* * *

Suki was angry, no she was beyound anger, she was furious, wrathful even. How long had she spent trying to convince them to turn to science? How long had she slaved away making and creating beautiful instruments of war that would utterly decapitate all that stood in their path?

She threw her dinner across her tent, he serving maid, one of the many women who had joined their cause or were brought here by their fathers and husbands-good source of money, taking in the girls no one wanted, you would be surprised to see how much a man who felt his daughter or wife was useless how much he was willing to pay to see her off.

This one was one of those, she was a small frail thing and reminded Suki of a little deer, standing before a hunter ready to die without a word or fight. The girl picked up the food and carried it away. Suki's anger still had not dissipated, she wanted to cause harm, she wanted to hurt something.

But something inside her made her suddenly relax, she pushed away all her emotions and put them in a box, it was all right, it was okay, it did not matter, as long as that Wolf demon was dead she would be happy, she would have avenged her lovers death.

She cast her eyes to her son, he somehow managed to sleep through all the noise. She leaned down and kissed him, it did not matter what she did in this life, who she trampeled on and who she killed, it did not matter how many families she tore apart, or cities she ground to the earth, as long as she had her son, she would be happy.

Suki turned walking out into the last rays of the morning light, the Lumenion, as the prophet had introduced to them were gathering next to each other, they had split into their own species, the wolf-like ones had taken refuge sleeping and laying amongst each other in the middle of the camp.

The horse/deer ones stood next to the trees, heads bowed next to each others and standing in small groups. Then the fliers, the strange and haunted looking fliers rested in the branches of trees, a few still glided about in the air, the camp was eerily silent, the Lumenion had caused some unease amongst the men, they did not know what to think, but their prophet had instilled them with enough stupidity to trust these creatures.

Suki longed to cut one open and see how it ticked. Even as she thought of this she saw two Lumenion wolves bristle and snap at each other, one tore into the other, the wounded one scampered away, at the smell of blood-which happened to be a blue/black blood.

Five of them suddenly arose and gave chase, they tore into the weakend one without a second thought then began to feast on their own kin. They were absolute savages, to stupid to realize what they did, they did not know anything, they were led on impulses and basic needs, these things would not help them, these creatures would most likely destroy them.

* * *

Within the tents of the camp, the cook was busy preparing the breakfest for tommorow morning. His helper was an older women of unknown age, late forties, early fifties maybe, but she was still quite beautiful, in a distant royal looking sort of way.

She was mostly quiet but she had a way of bringing out the best in everyone, her sweetness and caring had proved to soften the mean tempered cook. He preferred it when it was just he and her, the other helpers were always getting in the way and ruining his kitchen, he liked things with a certian order.

This women, Sirya was her name, knew exactly how to combat his worst of moods and helped him cook and make his food better. If he was twenty years younger and had the urge, he might have tried to woe her. But alas, the only women he needed was the firestone and brindle stove that always treated him the same, either scorching and burning him if he got to close or warmed him up on a cold night.

Sirya did the last finishing touches and moved to gather her things to go back to her tent. "What do you think about the Lumenion?" he asked her suddenly. She paused and turned "there is not much to say, they are here, life goes on."

He sighed, "you know you sometimes have a bleak outlook on life at times. Sirya was quiet, "because life is sometimes bleak." She said, this was strange for him, he had never heard her speak in such ways, she was always cheery and bright.

"There is something more behind that isn't there? Somebody hurt you or did something to make you think that." She turned slowly to him "it was...the man I love...and still love to this day." Then she turned and walked away.

The cook sighed and turned back to his stove "love and war, sometimes I can't tell the difference between them, huh old girl?" he said and closed the stove and shut it down for the night. He then retired to his comfy cot in the extending room.

For now, all was quiet between the camp, and Konoha, everyone was sleeping, and for a moment, just a moment everything in the world seemed quiet.

* * *

**I don't really understand somethings, like the fact that people are sending my ideas for the early chapters, can they not see that I am on my 60+ chapter range? I like their ideas don't get me wrong, but it's a little late for me to change things now.**

**I also do not like the fact that some people critisize what my characters are acting like, *example* 'This person is not this way, in the manga and anime he's this way-' well thats nice, but I changed him, I interpeted him a different way.  
**

**In the manga and anime Naruto is a human, no one here seems to have pointed out that major flaw, it's a story people, a fanfic not the real thing. So if I make a person to be total emo when in reality they are actully bright cheery flowers, or really brave when they are timid, I have that right, everyone who writes fanfics has that right, I am sorry if you don't like your character acting a certian way but I hope that I gave them enough reasoning for why the change.**

**Like with Hinata, she is known to be timid, but actully she is not, she has a fire inside of her that few see, she wants to be brave, she want's to be a hero and fight, she has the courage, just never the chance or ability, that is why I slowly made her realize that flaw in herself, so that she could correct it.**

**Sometimes your greatest strength is your strongest weakness, so yes, sometimes my characters,...are out of character, just because something is different does not mean it's bad. But let us not change things without an explanation, if you want Naruto to be emo, GIVE AN EXPLANATION! **

**Sasuke wants to smile, give an explanation! Ino wants to be with Akamaru? different, very different but hey it's possible...maybe but you have a good enough reason...go for it! The reason half the things happen in this world is because someone had the inspiration to do it, someone had the guts to change what was the norm.**

**Now this is a weird thing for me, giving a rant or...whatever this thing is, but I can't help it, I am just so tired of hearing the dogma that you can't write a fanfic where you change the elements of the characters, to me, if explained right and justified you can do anything with them.**

**I hope I made my point and some of you have read this far, if so, thank-you for reading and I hope to have the next chapter out soon.**

**NSW**


	66. I am only a messenger

**Life as A Fox**

**Chapter 65**

**NSW-The Forsaken Author of the Lost Story (see my bio for explanation)**

**ATTENTION, LOOKING FOR QUESTIONS FOR THE Q AND A SOON, NEED QUESTIONS TO ANSWER TO, PLEASE SPAM ME, I DON'T CARE I NEED SOMETHING TO DO, PLEASE AND THANKS...WRITING IN CAPS LOCK IS FUN...WEEEEEEEEEEE!**

* * *

Sirya packed her bags quickly and silently, she did not bring along many personal momentos, her job and training had taught her better. But she still carried with her one small thing. She opened the locket that always hung around her neck on a simple unnoticable chain.

Inside there was a happy couple, one of a long, long time ago. It was a picture at a festival, both of them were elgently dressed in kimono's. She trailed her finger lightly over the young face of what she once was. Then over to the handsome man next to her.

He was tall and tan, and he was kind-in his own way anyway. But he was different from most, he cared about the safty of others, he also had a strong sense of the word honor and integrity. It honor and integrity that stopped him from being able to commit to loving her fully.

Although she knew he loved her, maybe even still loved her, she knew that it was his duty to protect and up-hold, and so following the ever truthful phrase, 'If you love them you will let them go' she did, she let him go. So that he could be the person that she had fallen in love with.

She smiled softly and shook her head "that was many years ago" she said to herself softly. Then closed the locket with a snap and placed it back over her head. She turned to her bunk mate. "I must go tonight, you stay, we need someone on the inside yet."

The other nodded, he was a spy from Suna, a small wiry thing, posing as a serving boy, even though he was almost twenty. She nodded to the two other spies as well, then she left. She had long studied how the sentries patrolled and by this time a certian larger one was patrolling. Which meant that he was sleeping next to an oak tree and having his dog stand watch.

She smiled and walked up to the dog, she had managed to make friends with the little thing, giving it a tid-bit of meat it let her pass without making a sound. She then moved swiftly away escaping into the night.

* * *

She stood before the Hokage, cloaked and hooded, hiding her identity from all. The Hokage spoke "So, the enemy both has creatures...called the Lumenion and weapons?" She nodded "Demonsbane sir, it killed a demon within minutes."

Kakashi looked troubled for a few seconds. "This news does not bode well, with our numbers against their forces before, we were matched, but now...there is a strong possibility that Konoha will fall, if these weapons can effect both humans and demons like you have said, this will not be good."

She nodded "I am just a messenger sir" she said bowing her head. Kakashi nodded "very well, you might as well stay, General Mammoth will be here shortly" She froze "Of the Anbu sir?" She asked Kakashi nodded "Of course, and speak of the devil."

Mammoth strode in, Gomeg and Mouse following him. She turned to them, Mammoth gave her a nod. He wore his mask it had not changed much. "What news?" he asked briskly. "Listen to the messenger" Kakashi nodded to her. She cleared her throat and began to speak.

* * *

Kakashi waved the messenger away, she left quickly and quietly. Mammoth turned his head as she left. He looked to the ground as if thinking then he shook his head as if dismissing something from his mind. "Mammoth?" Kakashi asked.

Mammoth turned to him "I don't know Kakashi, I don't know, this is...unprecedented." Kakashi nodded agreeing with him. Gomeg spoke "We need more numbers" Kakashi sighed "You don't think I don't know that?" Gomeg spoke "Not just humans, with Suna and Kumo we will have plenty of them, I mean demons, we need more of our kind, me, Wolf Heart and the Gyrfalcons cannot fight an entire army of these creatures alone."

Kakashi shook his head "Where on earth will you find more demons?" Gomeg was silent then he spoke. "I know of a place." Kakashi looked to the blind badger. "Kakashi, listen to these words, grant me this one thing, and when you are in your darkest hour, we demons will save the day."

Kakashi was silent, he didn't like it, but he believed in this badger. "very well, what do you wish?" Gomeg spoke "I need Wolf Heart and a few Gyrfalcons, that is all." Kakashi nodded "You can have what you wish, but you will be the one to convince Wolf Heart to leave his mate and pups."

Gomeg nodded "I know, but trust me, he would be willing to leave their sides if it means it will save them." Kakashi nodded "Very well go, and for our sakes, I hope you do come in time." Gomeg nodded and scampered away, moving faster then anyone there had ever seen from the old badger.

* * *

Naruto stared out the window he contemplated the news greatly, lamnenting in his head for his mate and pups. "I don't know Gomeg, this is all happening so fast." Gomeg nodded "I know, but war does not fit in for anyones scedule."

Naruto sighed "Where are we going? How long will it take." Gomeg shrugged "I know not, but I do know, that if we sit here and do nothing it will take longer." Naruto nodded "I understand" He turned to the pillow where Yume lay with the pups curled about her.

She looked up with sad eyes, he walked over to her about to speak "Do not worry my love, I know this is something you must do, I want you to, go and do this, then return and see our pups live to grow up in a free land, free form fear and hatred."

Naruto nodded "Nothing will tear me from your side, even when I am gone, my heart will remain with all of you." Yume smiled then licked his cheek "then run my love, run faster then you have ever before, and bring our salvation to us."

Naruto nodded and turned, he breifly thought about putting on his armor, but he shook his head. "No, I will not make this journey as a Anbu member, I will make this journey as a demon." He then turned to Yume "I love you" he said one last time then he turned and together he and Gomeg traveled out to the forest.

* * *

"How are we to get the Gyrfalcons? they are home right now?" Gomeg grinned at Naruto's question "awhile ago I sent a messege, they should be here." Then just as he spoke over head scores and scores of Gyrfalcons flew over head.

Botis and Sokol flew down and landed nearby. They nodded to them. They were different from before, they wore what looked to be hallowed bones over their heads, and upon their claws, making them even sharper. Botis spoke "We came dressed for war, we Gyrfalcon will honor our agreement, we also will honor the godess's call."

Naruto looked to Gomeg, Gomeg also looked confused "The goddess called?" Gomeg asked Botis nodded "Yes, she came to one of our elders in his sleep, gave us a messege now we are here." Gomeg nodded "Very well then, me and Fluffy here are going on a journey to find more kin to fight with us, care to join?"

Botis grinned and chirred "I am always willing!" He said loudly. Sokol nodded "I would follow you as well." Gomeg nodded "good, good, then let us be on our way." The four demons then rushed off into the forest, Gomeg leadning them, he knew of only one place and hoped to the goddess that he was right about it.

* * *

**So that's what I have so far, I hope you enjoyed. I know I did. Also thank-you for all the comments and reviews, keep it up It makes me so happy to see...or hear about your happiness.**

**NSW**


	67. Finding A Safe Place

**Life as A Fox**

**Chapter 67*2013 Revision***

**NSW-The Forsaken Author of the Lost Story (see my bio for explanation)**

* * *

How many years has it been since he had traveled to this place? How many years has it been since he has felt the powers and life forces of so many demons? Living in the hidden darkness of their private sanctuary? How many of them were there and more importantly, how many of them would be willing to join them?

Gomeg found the old opening, he scrabbled down the slope, into the darkness with Naruto. They Gyrfalcons waited, hesitant about going into the earth and rock. They were creatures of the sky, they did not like enclosed areas. But they managed to hop after them.

Naruto strode next to him, his nose was picking up many scents. "I smell, water... and trees?" Gomeg nodded "good, good, what else?" Naruto was unsure, it was so strange, smelling all of these things in a place like this. Then just around a corner, they came into light.

Staggering into it, blindly they came to the edge of a cliff. Naruto was silent as he was momentarily awestruck. Never had he beheld what he was seeing. It was like an enchanted realm he had walked into. Two towering waterfalls on either side of a large spacious and vibrant green valley.

The waterfalls seemed to fall from the sky, their water blending in with the blue of the sky that you could see in the opening of this rock ceiling. All around them rose up large jagged cliffs. The valley was secluded and trapped in a private heaven, a private sanctuary.

Naruto heard the sounds of birds calling. He glanced to Gomeg. "Regular animals live here as well, the valley is large enough to keep the animals here from inbreeding, so the lines are pure and good." Naruto nodded understanding. In most secluded places, after a few generations animals might start breeding with cousins or relatives and soon the decline of the populace starts.

But here, Naruto could easily see that the valley was quite large, extending into rolling hills and forests. There was ton's of space. Then he heard it, wolf howls. He felt a beating his chest. He was not alone! He was not the only wolf! He turned to Gomeg. "Demon wolves"

Naruto felt like howling in answer, but Gomeg stopped him "They might not take kind to strangers, come let me try and find someone first." Naruto was sad at this, but Gomeg was right, so for now he would have to remain silent. Sokol and Botis, flew around in tight circle close to them, making sure they were not seen.

They slunk through the dense growth. Naruto could scent many things. Squirrels, birds, coyotes, bears even. He smelled numerous other animals that he never scented before. Gomeg had paused every now and again. sensing for something or someone. Naruto let him do so and explored a bit. He sniffed the newest trail that he found.

Then his paw fell through the ground. He tried pulling it out. But he couldn't, then his back paw fell through. He tried wiggling and pulling both. Then he soon found himself all front paws in the earth. He was trapped. He got angry he added chakra and he pulled and bucked wildly, trying to free himself.

As he was doing this, he heard small sounds, weird ones, He looked up there was...little furry brown things running among the trees and brush. He growled and snapped at the nearest ones, they were larger then mice, about the size of squirrels, but with no tail. They had large chisel like teeth...what the heck were they?

Then a weird sound vibrated again. "Cucalooooook" One screamed out. "Chucloooookkkk!" Hundreds answered it seemed. Then Naruto was being tied up and wrapped like a christmas present. He yelled out "wait stop! I do not mean any harm! wait! can we talk about this!? What are you-" Then GOmeg yelled out "Chukaloook, no gobo!" "go bobo chukalook" The brown things stopped moving.

They all stared at Gomeg. "Chukalook? bogo go?" one asked. Gomeg nodded and pointed to Naruto "gobo Chookalook, snuff snuff" The brown things gasped to each other, then freed Naruto. They let him get up. He nodded to them in thanks. "Chukalook, bos bos" One said to him, patting dirt form his fur.

Naruto turned to Gomeg, royally confused. "They are apologizing, they thought you were trying to hunt them" Naruto shook his head "no, no I wasn't I was just curious as to what they were" Gomeg nodded "chukalook...maso do?" A sound of understanding went through all of them. "Chukalook, chuk chuk" One said.

Gomeg grinned "He says they are the glorious and great tribe of Chukalook, Naruto, these are demon lemmings, they have a language to themselves, and a way of life to themselves, very hard to understand these small creatures." Naruto bowed to them "How do you say I am honored to meet them?" Gomeg thought for a second then said "Chukalook, butchu" Naruto spoke bowing to them.

The lemmings looked to each other and then bowed to him. Surprised that he did. As if no one had ever gave them reverence before. "What is it?" Naruto asked. Gomeg shrugged "apparently they have never been bowed to by a wolf before" The lemmings surrounded him and began to clean Naruto's paws.

Whispering and murmuring to each other. "what are they doing?" Naruto asked "You have given them great honor, they are repaying you" Naruto sighed "well then, how do I say thank-you and you are very kind and wise lemmings?" Gomeg grinned "Chukalook, sob sob, maso me...chukalook" Naruto nodded and spoke the words.

The lemmings gasped and danced in excitement, they couldn't believe that this strange wolf was being kind to them! Gomeg nodded to them "Chukalook gos" he said. The lemmings nodded speaking among themselves "Gos, magabi!" one said. Gomeg nodded "sob,sob" Gomeg said to them and continued off.

Naruto dancing around the many bodies of lemmings trying to follow him. He asked "where are we going?" "I go to find Arthis" Naruto paused "who?" he asked. Gomeg turned "Arthis, he was the one who helped me discover this place" Naruto nodded understanding. Naruto turned, the ground behind him was a moving blob of brown.

"ah...Gomeg they are following us" Gomeg turned and smiled "no, they follow you, you were the one who kept telling them how great they were, they will now follow you until they can repay the kindness you have given to them." Naruto sighed "great a cult of demon lemmings following me, just what I needed"

Gomeg grinned. "Nice knowing you." Naruto growled and ran after Gomeg. They traveled a long ways, and sure enough the Lemmings kept following Naruto. He told them to go back home, he told them that they didn't have to follow him. But they didn't listen to him. He did manage to get them to follow at least from a distance, but it wasn't much.

Gomeg and him were in the valley for two days before Gomeg found what he was looking for, a herd of Elk. Naruto crouched down beside him. Aare you sure you know what you are doing? You said they don't take kind to strangers" Gomeg turned to him "you stay, you are a wolf, I will go, herbivores are kinder to herbivores."

Naruto glared at him "you eat meat!" Gomeg grinned "they don't know that" Naruto grumbled as Gomeg left him. Gomeg wandered into the Elk herd. They rose their heads and snorted at him, taking in his scent. Gomeg spoke "I look for an elk among you that goes by the name of Arthis, can any of you take me to him, or know of him?"

The elk were silent. Then one trotted out, he was an older male "What dealings do you have with Arthis badger?" Gomeg looked to him "Caution youngling, do not take such tone with me, I only wish to talk with my old friend" The elk snorted. "Very well, my name is Arkil, grand-son of Arthis, my grandfather still yet stands among his doe, come I will take you to him."

Gomeg nodded "good, me and my friend would be delighted." Arkil snorted "friend?" Gomeg turned "I travel with a companion, my other friend, a wolf demon if you wish to know" Arkil stomped the ground "I will not take a wolf demon into the sanctuary of elders" Gomeg nodded "very well, knowing Arthis, he is still yet strong, he can walk out here among his fine young bucks who could easily defend him against a lonely wolf demon and badger."

Arkil snorted "very well, call your friend" Gomeg turned "Naruto" he said. Naruto came out, keeping his head down, and making sure he looked as none threatening as possible. The elk around him snorted and pounded their hooves into the dirt as he passed, tossing aside their heads and rolling their eyes, trying to intimidate him.

Naruto walked next to Gomeg and stood. The elk were silent as suddenly a herd of lemmings followed after Naruto. They glanced at the lemmings then to Naruto. Then began to laugh and snort in humor. Naruto sighed. They waited only a little before an aged elk came to them. His coat had paled to that of an off white, his antlers though were still yet proud and glorious, however the neck that held them had grown weak from their weight.

He spoke in a ragged old voice "I am Arthis...Gomeg...is that you?" Gomeg stepped forward "of course old friend, it is I" Arthis smiled "what brings you here...and with...such company" he said looking beyond Gomeg to Naruto and the lemmings. Gomeg spoke "I come in ask, of a favor, I will explain to you my story, I ask that you only listen, leave comments till the end."

Arthis nodded in agreement "of course old friend of course" Gomeg spoke "I suggest you get comfortable, bones do not age well" Arthis grinned and nodded his massive head "no, they do not." Naruto sat next to Gomeg, his lemmings sidling up to him. Naruto sighed as a family of them buried themselves untop of his head in his fur.

* * *

**This is what I have, I hope you enjoyed, and I redid chapter 43, so go back and read it if you want.**


	68. Old Friend

**Life as A Fox**

**Chapter 68*2013 Revision***

**NSW-The Forsaken Author of the Lost Story (see my bio for explanation)**

* * *

Arthis true to his word, did not speak or interject at all when Gomeg explained his story. Gomeg talked about how he had come to the terms that the goddess wanted him to help humans and not fear them. He spoke of how he met Naruto, and how the village of Konoha respects and adores it's demons.

He explained of the war in coming, who was fighting it and why. He explained all these things in detail, one would think that this would lead or cause someone to nod off or not pay attention but no. Every word he spoke, held a meaning a depth, it made you pay attention, it made you want to listen to more.

Everyone's ears could be compared to dry ground. Gomegs words? They were like rain, and the ground eagerly soaked it up, begging for more.

* * *

Naruto by the time Gomeg was done, was laying down, the lemmings had formed a tight ring around him. He felt comforted by all their bodies, so fuzzy and warm next to him. The elk too laid down. No longer did the hold a disdain for Gomeg or Naruto, they were lulled into compassion by Gomegs words and stories.

When Gomeg stopped, there was a quietness among them. Not even an elk calf spoke. Arthis was silent as well. Then he spoke. His voice breaking the spell. "You tell a very good story old friend, and although I understand why you come, this battle...is not for us, why should we risk our lives our necks, leave this place...this sanctuary, the humans do not know we are here, we are safe here."

Gomeg nodded "I agree with you, but, we are demons Arthis, not animals, do not mistake yourselves? It is nice to have peace and live in peace, but living here...what is the sense of being a demon? When do you use the gifts of the goddess? Why do we have powers that can equal a humans? Why do we have the ability to speak with them? Ask yourselves this my kin, if the goddess gave us these gifts, shouldn't that mean we must use them?"

The elk looked to each other Gomeg spoke truth as well. What was the point of being a demon if they did not even use their powers? They acted and lived like normal animals here in this valley. Arthis was silent as he thought of what Gomeg said.

"True, we have gifts, but, still the fact remains that, we are safe here, our sanctuary hidden" Naruto spoke finally "Please excuse me, if I interrupt, I do not wish to be rude, but I would like to say something." Arthis turned his head "you may speak wolf" Naruto bowed his head in respect.

Naruto spoke "We are not asking for you to leave your sanctuary, we are not asking for its location, we are asking for brothers and sisters to stand next to us and fight with us, your mates and children and elders stay here be safe, your sanctuary and it's location can be hidden from all humans, we just ask, you come and fight and return back to your home."

Arthis thought deeply over what Naruto said. "The strongest of us leave to fight, while the others stay, then when battle is over we return...what if we were to loose the battle?" Naruto answered him "If we lose you still go free, you can still come back here and stay hidden from the world for eternity if you wish."

Arthis nodded this was a sound plan, "You may leave at anytime if you wish" Naruto added. Arthis glanced to him "no wolf, we are elk, we are demons, when we give our word to do something...we do it!" Arthis rose, a new power crackling in him.

"If it was not for this badger standing here before us, my herd of earlier generations could have died out, I have a debt with Gomeg, and I will see it paid back, we will join our brothers Gomeg and Naruto in battle!" He bellowed out.

The elk all around Naruto bleated and reared into the air, tossing their antlered heads and snorting. Pounding their feet and bellowing in answer, the elk demons would go to war!

* * *

The strongest of the elk stood spanning out in front of Naruto, Gomeg and Arthis. Their numbers stood at least a good fifty strong. Arthis spoke to Gomeg "The elk demons will join your cause, but I sense that we will need more numbers, I will speak to the other herds of the valley, I hold much respect with them, and with your words Gomeg, you could sway them to jump of cliffs if you wished."

Gomeg grinned "thank-you old friend, I would appreciate it greatly." Arthis spoke "I go on a journey with my friends, Arkil you will join us as we travel to the other herd heads." Arkil nodded to his grand-sire. Arthis spoke next to his herd "help the calves and the elders to our safest meadows, then wait for us next to the great forest."

The elk nodded and began to move out. Naruto, Arthis, Arkil, Gomeg and the lemmings went out separately, Arthis in lead. He turned his head to Naruto. "You are a strange wolf demon" Arthis mentioned to him. "How so?" Arthis spoke "There are many wolf demons in this valley, you may have heard them, they are the largest group of prey eaters, their numbers large, they have...begun to feed on other demon herds."

Naruto stopped "They feed on their own kin?" Arthis nodded "We demons are kin, yes but we still have a circle of life, it is not exactly wrong for them to do...just...disrespectful, demons usually will not prey on other demons out of this respect...but as I said, large pack, many numbers, they must live as well."

Naruto shook his head "well I am not from here, I would never feed on my kin, you have my word Arthis, I like would never bring harm to you or any of your herd" Arthis nodded to him in respect "I thank you demon, now tell me, do you travel alone? Or do you have a pack?"

Naruto was silent for a bit before speaking "I am an alpha, but my pack...is different from most, humans mostly make up my pack, as well as Gyrfalcons, and a lonely distempered badger." Naruto added. Arkil turned to Naruto "Humans...make up your pack? What kind of demon are you?" Naruto was silent then spoke "hopefully I am a demon that can be held to as an example, to show demons everywhere, that humans, can finally be trusted and that the sins of the past and the blood that has been spilled in earlier generations can be forgiven...and changed."

Gomeg spoke "Be the change you want to see in the world Arkil" Naruto nodded "exactly so" Arkil was silent. "Do you have a mate?" Naruto nodded and grinned "My Yume, we have three beautiful pups together" Arkil nodded knowingly, "That is good, I too have a mate, however our calf is not yet born." Naruto nodded "congratulations."

Arkil spoke "Grandfather, are you sure if the other herds will join us?" Arthis turned "I do not know, they may or may not, but it is no harm in asking."

* * *

Arthis and them stopped when they had reached the edge of the forest "I will call for Loresin she is head leader of the deer demons, her and I go back many years." Arthis then raised his massive head, and let out a long high pitched elk call. It ascended and descended casually. It was quite some time before a figure approached but when it did, it revealed to be a deer of pure white.

She came gracefully out of the foliage, seeming to glide upon ground. She came forward she flickered her eyes to each of them, snorting when she saw Naruto. "Arthis, you have called me?" Arthis nodded and bowed "I have some friends here who wish to speak to you." Loresin turned "A seer, something that many demons have not seen in a long long time."

Gomeg bowed to her "Loresin, queen of the deer, mate of Loketi." Loresin looked away sadly "Loketi is no longer among us, he died last winter, my bonds and duties with the herd have kept me from following him." Gomeg sighed "I wish I could have came sooner, Loketi was a dear friend of the family" Loresin bowed her head "I am glad that my mate was so well received by so many, please speak"

Gomeg told Loresin of the war and Konoha, then told her of the same deal they made with Arthis." Loresin was silent for a bit, she cast her dark eyes to Arthis. "For many seasons we have been friends, the elk and the deer take comfort from each other, if you Arthis believe it is wise to go to war, then the deer as well will follow you." Arthis, Gomeg, Naruto and Arkil bowed their heads in thanks.

She turned to Naruto "we of the deer have sadly felt the effects of the wolves hunger, I know you Naruto are not among their numbers, but please forgive me if one of my people house disdain for you." Naruto nodded "I have heard news, I am greatly saddened by what my kind have done, I will take whatever is given to me without complaint you have my word, and know that I will not cause harm to you or any demon within this valley."

* * *

That night they stayed with the deer. Loresin sent her swiftest runners to all the smaller herds and told them to gather together by the next morning in the high lands meadow. Naruto grew hungry but luckily his lemming friends gathered some nuts and fruit, he was able to eat that at least.

The next morning the sun arose quickly, casting tendrils of light through the flush mist that covered the valley. Naruto, Gomeg and the others traveled to the high land meadow and viewed the demon deer population. They stood almost 400 strong. The bucks had organized themselves into small groups, while the does with fawns stood among each other, then the doe expecting stood away from them.

Doe without fawns and not expecting, and yearling males created outer groups that mingled on the edge. Loresin spoke to her people, proclaiming that she was joining with Arthis, she then asked if any of her people would be willing to follow her, a good chunk of the bucks did so. A few older doe who did not mate this year joined in with them.

Naruto nodded the number of deer was around 180, a good number that would be gladly accepted with the elk demons. Naruto rose up to speak. Some deer tossed their heads and flared nostrils at him. "I know, my kind is not in favor, but I am from another pack, I harm no demons, in fact last night I feasted on nuts, fruits and berries, within the glade, I find your yellow sweet tasting fruit delicious."

Naruto continued "I know it may seem strange to you, why should you go out and risk your lives for demons you barely know and more importantly fight for humans, it is an odd request, and knowing your history I am surprised you even consented." Naruto gazed out and continued. "I am but a lonely wolf demon, I have only a mate and three pups, I grew up and lived among humans, I must admit am a strange demon, but I have seen the demon goddess...I have spoken to her, and I have heard her voice."

The deer turned to each other startled then moved forward, wanting to hear more about their goddess and creator. "She has told me, that she gave all of us demons the abilities that we have, use of chakra, and speech of many tongues...she had given us these things, so that we can guide and help humans, help them become something better than what they were made for, teach them...if you will, and learn from them as well. That is what I have set out to do, and those of you who have joined with me, I am forever in your debt and I am greatly humbled before you."

Naruto bowed to them "I hope that someday, the goddess will appear to each and every one of you, in her beautiful glory, and then you can see with your very own eyes and hear with your very own ears, everything that she has shown and told me."

The deer bucked and bleated in excitement, they bowed their heads to him and called out to him saying that they trusted and respected him, adored him even. Naruto stood over the masses and nodded. Loresin took lead again and began to sort out her warriors. The warriors went and joined with the waiting elk warriors, then Arthis, Loresin, Arkil, Gomeg, and Naruto and his lemmings traveled out together.

Lorensin spoke "next, we will speak to Imasen of the wind, he and his kin would gladly join us." Naruto turned to her "how do you know?" Loresin smiled and turned to him "What child refuses his mother? even if he is adopted."

* * *

**Well this is what I have so far, I am sorry that there is not much happening, but don't worry more is on it's way.**

**NSW**


	69. Humbled

**Life as A Fox**

**Chapter 68**

**NSW-The Forsaken Author of the Lost Story (see my bio for explanation)**

* * *

Arthis true to his word, did not speak or interject at all when Gomeg explained his story. Gomeg talked about how he had come to the terms that the goddess wanted him to help humans and not fear them. He spoke of how he met Naruto, and how the village of Konoha respects and adores it's demons.

He explained of the war in coming, who was fighting it and why. He explained all these things in detail, one would think that this would lead or cause someone to nod off or not pay attention but no. Every word he spoke, held a meaning a depth, it made you pay attention, it made you want to listen to more.

Everyone's ears could be compared to dry ground. Gomegs words? They were like rain, and the ground eagerly soaked it up, begging for more.

Naruto by the time Gomeg was done was laying down, the lemmings had formed a tight ring around him. He felt comforted by all their bodies, so fuzzy and warm next to him. The elk too laid down. No longer did the hold a disdain for Gomeg or Naruto, they were lulled into compassion by Gomegs words and stories.

When Gomeg stopped, there was a quietness among them. Not even an elk calf spoke. Arthis was silent as well. Then he spoke. His voice breaking the spell. "You tell a very good story old friend, and although I understand why you come, this battle...is not for us, why should we risk our lives our necks, leave this place...this sanctuary, the humans do not know we are here, we are safe here."

Gomeg nodded "I agree with you, but, we are demons Arthis, not animals, do not mistake yourselves, it is nice to have peace and live in peace, but living here...what is the sense of being a demon? When do use the gifts of the goddess? Why do we have powers that can equal a humans? Why do we have the ability to speak with them? Ask yourselves this my kin, if the goddess gave us these gifts, shouldn't that mean we must use them?"

The elk looked to each other Gomeg spoke truth as well. What was the point of being a demon if they did not even use their powers? They acted and lived like normal animals here in this valley. Arthis was silent as he thought of what Gomeg said.

"True, we have gifts, but, still the fact remains that, we are safe here, our sanctuary hidden" Naruto spoke finally "Please excuse me, if I interrupt, I do not wish to be rude, but I would like to say something." Arthis turned his head "you may speak wolf" Naruto bowed his head in respect.

Naruto spoke "We are not asking for you to leave your sanctuary, we are not asking for its location, we are asking for brothers and sisters to stand next to us and fight with us, your mates and children and elders stay here be safe, your sanctuary and it's location can be hidden from all humans, we just ask, you come and fight and return back to your home."

Arthis thought deeply over what Naruto said. "The strongest of us leave to fight, while the others stay, then when battle is over we return...what if we were to loose the battle?" Naruto answered him "If we lose you still go free, you can still come back here and stay hidden from the world for eternity if you wish."

Arthis nodded this was a sound plan, "You may leave at anytime if you wish" Naruto added. Arthis glanced to him "no wolf, we are elk, we are demons, when we give our word to do something...we do it!" Arthis rose, a new power crackling in him.

"If it was not for this badger standing here before us, my herd of earlier generations could have died out, I have a debt with Gomeg, and I will see it paid back, we will join our brothers Gomeg and Naruto in battle!" He bellowed out.

The elk all around Naruto bleated and reared into the air, tossing their antlered heads and snorting. Pounding their feet and bellowing in answer, the elk demons would go to war!

* * *

The strongest of the elk stood spanning out in front of Naruto, Gomeg and Arthis. Their numbers stood at least a good fifty strong. Arthis spoke to Gomeg "The elk demons will join your cause, but I sense that we will need more numbers, I will speak to the other herds of the valley, I hold much respect with them, and with your words Gomeg, you could sway them to jump of cliffs if you wished."

Gomeg grinned "thank-you old friend, I would appreciate it greatly." Arthis spoke "I go on a journey with my friends, Arkil you will join us as we travel to the other herd heads." Arkil nodded to his grand-sire. Arthis spoke next to his herd "help the calves and the elders to our safest meadows, then wait for us next to the great forest."

The elk nodded and began to move out. Naruto, Arthis, Arkil, Gomeg and the lemmings went out separately, Arthis in lead. He turned his head to Naruto. "You are a strange wolf demon" Arthis mentioned to him. "How so?" Arthis spoke "There are many wolf demons in this valley, you may have heard them, they are the largest group of prey eaters, their numbers large, they have...begun to feed on other demon herds."

Naruto stopped "They feed on their own kin?" Arthis nodded "We demons are kin, yes but we still have a circle of life, it is not exactly wrong for them to do...just...disrespectful, demons usually will not prey on other demons out of this respect...but as I said, large pack, many numbers, they must live as well."

Naruto shook his head "well I am not from here, I would never feed on my kin, you have my word Arthis, I like would never bring harm to you or any of your herd" Arthis nodded to him in respect "I thank you demon, now tell me, do you travel alone? Or do you have a pack?"

Naruto was silent for a bit before speaking "I am an alpha, but my pack...is different from most, humans mostly make up my pack, as well as Gyrfalcons, and a lonely distempered badger." Naruto added. Arkil turned to Naruto "Humans...make up your pack? What kind of demon are you?" Naruto was silent then spoke "hopefully I am a demon that can be held to as an example, to show demons everywhere, that humans, can finally be trusted and that the sins of the past and the blood that has been spilled in earlier generations can be forgiven...and changed."

Gomeg spoke "Be the change you want to see in the world Arkil" Naruto nodded "exactly so" Arkil was silent. "Do you have a mate?" Naruto nodded and grinned "My Yume, we have three beautiful pups together" Arkil nodded knowingly, "That is good, I to have a mate, however our calf is not yet born." Naruto nodded "congratulations."

Arkil spoke "Grandfather, are you sure if the other herds will join us?" Arthis turned "I do not know, they may or may not, but it is no harm in asking."

* * *

Arthis and them stopped when they had reached the edge of the forest "I will call for Loresin she is head leader of the deer demons, her and I go back many years." Arthis then raised his massive head, and let out a long high pitched elk call. It ascended and descended casually. It was quite some time before a figure approached but when it did, it revealed to be a deer of pure white.

She came gracefully out of the foliage, seeming to glide upon ground. She came forward she flickered her eyes to each of them, snorting when she saw Naruto. "Arthis, you have called me?" Arthis nodded and bowed "I have some friends here who wish to speak to you." Loresin turned "A seer, something that many demons have not seen in a long long time."

Gomeg bowed to her "Loresin, queen of the deer, mate of Loketi." Loresin looked away sadly "Loketi is no longer among us, he died last winter, my bonds and duties with the herd have kept me from following him." Gomeg sighed "I wish I could have came sooner, Loketi was a dear friend of the family" Loresin bowed her head "I am glad that my mate was so well received by so many, please speak"

Gomeg told Loresin of the war and Konoha, then told her of the same deal they made with Arthis." Loresin was silent for a bit, she cast her dark eyes to Arthis. "For many seasons we have been friends, the elk and the deer take comfort from each other, if you Arthis believe it is wise to go to war, then the deer as well will follow you." Arthis, Gomeg, Naruto and Arkil bowed their heads in thanks.

turned to Naruto "we of the deer have sadly felt the effects of the wolves hunger, I know you Loresin are not among their numbers, but please forgive me if one of my people house disdain for you." Naruto nodded "I have heard news, I am greatly saddened by what my kind have done, I will take whatever is given to me without complaint you have my word, and know that I will not cause harm to you or any demon within this valley."

* * *

That night they stayed with the deer. Loresin sent her swiftest runners to all the smaller herds and told them to gather together by the next morning in the high lands meadow. Naruto grew hungry but luckily his lemming friends gathered some nuts and fruit, he was able to eat that at least.

The next morning the sun arose quickly, casting tendrils of light through the flush mist that covered the valley. Naruto, Gomeg and the others traveled to the high land meadow and viewed the demon deer population. They stood almost 400 strong. The bucks had organized themselves into small groups, while the does with fawns stood among each other, then the doe expecting stood away from them.

Doe without fawns and not expecting, and yearling males created outer groups that mingled on the edge. Loresin spoke to her people, proclaiming that she was joining with Arthis, she then asked if any of her people would be willing to follow her, a good chunk of the bucks did so. A few older doe who did not mate this year joined in with them.

Naruto nodded the number of deer was around 80, a good number that would be gladly accepted with the elk demons. Naruto rose up to speak. Some deer tossed their heads and flared nostrils at him. "I know, my kind is not in favor, but I am from another pack, I harm no demons, in fact last night I feasted on nuts, fruits and berries, within the glade, I find your yellow sweet tasting fruit delicious."

Naruto continued "I know it may seem strange to you, why should you go out and risk your lives for demons you barely know and more importantly fight for humans, it is an odd request, and knowing your history I am surprised you even consented." Naruto gazed out and continued. "I am but a lonely wolf demon, I have only a mate and three pups, I grew up and lived among humans, I must admit am a strange demon, but I have seen the demon goddess...I have spoken to her, and I have heard her voice."

The deer turned to each other startled then moved forward, wanting to hear more about their goddess and creator. "She has told me, that she gave all of us demons the abilities that we have, use of chakra, and speech of many tongues...she had given us these things, so that we can guide and help humans, help them become something better than what they were made for, teach them...if you will, and learn from them as well, that is what I have set out to do, and those of you who have joined with me, I am forever in your debt and I am greatly humbled before you."

Naruto bowed to them "I hope that someday, the goddess will appear to each and every one of you, in her beautiful glory, and then you can see with your very own eyes and hear with your very own ears, everything that she has shown and told me."

The deer bucked and bleated in excitement, they bowed their heads to him and called out to him saying that they trusted and respected him, adored him even. Naruto stood over the masses and nodded. Loresin took lead again and began to sort out her warriors. The warriors went and joined with the waiting elk warriors, then Arthis, Loresin, Arkil, Gomeg, and Naruto and his lemmings traveled out together.

Lorensin spoke "next, we will speak to Imasen of the wind, he and his kin would gladly join us." Naruto turned to her "how do you know?" Loresin smiled and turned to him "What child refuses his mother? even if he is adopted."

* * *

**Well this is what I have so far, I am sorry that there is not much happening, but don't worry more is on it's way.**

**NSW**


	70. Banded For War

**Life as A Fox**

**Chapter 69*2013 Revision***

**NSW-The Forsaken Author of the Lost Story (see my bio for explanation)**

* * *

The small herd of demons traveled for a few days. Naruto who traveled in the middle of the group. Was impressed with this valley, it held a certain peacefulness and majestic beauty, he could see why demons would be disdainful at leaving.

Arthis and Loresin traveled near each other and exchanged pleasantries. Gomeg traveled behind him. On occasion Loresin would move ahead and lead them on a different path, it was a very peaceful journey, Naruto almost forgot about the emergency of it.

Then by mid-morning, Naruto felt something, a tremor through him. He knew...he just knew that something was watching them. He stopped suddenly. Gomeg bumped into him and Arthis and Loresin paused as well "What is it?" Naruto spoke in a hushed voice "We are not alone, something is watching us"

Gomeg nodded "aye, for a while now" Naruto turned to him "you did not warn us?" Gomeg shrugged "I did not know if they meant to cause harm or not" Naruto turned to a rustling in the brush as three wolves stalked out, fur bristling and teeth gnashing.

Naruto turned to Gomeg, "well...now you know" he said. Naruto moved forward, he did not bare his fangs or growl, but he spoke in a commanding voice "We mean no harm, we are only passing through" The wolves snapped at him "Who is this strange wolf? Walking among prey? Does he think himself a deer or elk as well?"

The wolves laughed to each other, as they stalked forward. Naruto growled it was a powerful one, asserting his dominance as an alpha. The wolves backed away slightly. But remained hostile. One spoke up, it was a gray male, smaller than Naruto.

"Maybe he thinks he is one of the lemmings that trails behind him!" The wolves laughed at each other again. Naruto growled. "Last chance, stand aside" One scoffed, it was a brindled female, with yellow eyes. She leaped forward, snapping at him.

Naruto stood his ground not detoured. These wolves were used to fighting each other, they were not trained like Naruto, no they did not fight and train day in and out in use of chakra and fangs, the only time they fought was on a hunt or in disputes.

Naruto leaped forward and met her in mid-air, shouldering her and knocking her into the ground in a disgruntled heap. She got up shaking her fur, stunned but even more angry.

She lept again, this time the small gray joined in. Naruto grabbed him by the foreleg with his jaws. Not biting down to cause injury but to be able to have a hold. He quickly lifted the small wolf up in the air and used said wolf as a mêlée weapon and threw the male into the female with a satisfied grunt.

The two wolves were in a pile trying to sort themselves out. The last wolf another male, with pale brown fur. Glanced at his kin then to this strange wolf who fought them so easily. He studied this strange white wolf with blue eyes. He emanated with a raw and noble power. His demonic energies seemed to crackle, he had never seen a wolf with so strong of powers and one who could wield them so easily.

He backed away head lowered then spun and ran. His kin trailing behind him. Naruto snorted at the fleeing wolves. "Young pups, thinking they can take on whoever they want" Gomeg grinned slyly, "my, my young friend, you have become wiser to the ways of the world. Was it not yesterday it seemed you thought you could take on anyone?"

Naruto smirked Gomeg was right, being a father had changed him some. Naruto huffed. Loresin spoke "You fight very bravely Naruto. I am honored to be in the presence of such a skilled warrior." Naruto shook his head modestly "no, no, that was nothing, wait until you see me in battle with a true opponent." Loresin nodded "I cannot wait to behold that sight."

Loresin looked about "why, I do believe we are here" Loresin walked gracefully to the nearest knoll of grass then lifted her aged head high and proud. She let up a high-pitched bleat that ascended through the valley. It was several moments later did they hear an answering call. A powerful horse whinny, thundering through the air.

They also heard the muffled beating of hooves, quiet at first, faint, but drawing closer and closer, soon the ground was shaking. Naruto was on edge, it was weird knowing that something big was coming but not seeing or telling from where it was. Then just like that from over the hill they came.

* * *

Horses, every size, shape and color. Neighing and screaming joyfully. They cantered by, Naruto felt like he was in a sea of manes and muscles bodies. The horses spanned out and slowly turned. Managing to not bump into each other or even touch each other. They were like ghosts, moving about, seeming to glide.

Naruto waited next to Loresin. Their was a silence as the herd turned towards them. Then the herd began to part without a word, and from their ranks, rose a towering figure. Muscles and glowing in the sun. His coat a dappled gray, hooves the color of obsidian, and eyes, the color of storm clouds. He radiated and crackled with a youthful wild energy.

He spoke his voice dominating and booming like thunder. "Loresin, giver of my milk, what has brought you here?" Loresin moved forward "I come to ask a favor of my son" Imasen bowed his head "You need but ask" Loresin shook her head "no, what I ask of is something great, you must choose whether to do so or not, I will not be angry if you decide no."

Imasen snorted "Nothing is too great for I, Imasen of the Storm, lead stallion of the thundering hills herd" Loresin bowed her head "a name well deserved and earned, as you see I am accompanied by others as great as you" She turned to Arthis "Arthis, leader of the elk, bringer of sanctuary, Gomeg...badger seer and healer, guide to sanctuary"

She turned to Naruto "and Naruto, Alpha of many, warrior of the goddess...he also has recently saved this old doe's life" She winked at him. She turned back to Imasen "we are also followed by the clan of Chukalook" Naruto sighed "that would be my doing" he said quietly. Imasen grinned and tossed his head "you must have done something truly great to receive such...loyalty from them"

Naruto sighed "I merely told them that they were a wise, noble, and honorable race" Imasen chuckled "I sense a great difference from you compared to your kin in this valley, I bow my head in respect to you." Naruto bowed as well "I am honored to receive such patronage from such a noble and valiant warrior." Imasen nodded once more then to Arthis, and Gomeg in turn.

Gomeg spoke "You are Imasen? Son of Imura of the East valley herd?" Imasen snorted in surprise "you knew my birth father?" Gomeg nodded "aye, and mother, Shirsen, she would be glad to know that her son grew into the fine stallion she had hoped of you." Imasen was quiet for a second "thank-you badger, you have given me great comfort, I did not know my true parents, the one's who raised me were Loketi and Loresin of the deer demons, but Loketi did tell me of my father and mother."

Gomeg nodded "it was by my father's hand do you live, I was there when you were born and named." Imasen lowered himself to his front knees kneeling before Gomeg, "Then I owe you much great badger seer" Gomeg chuckled "no, it was my father who you owe, not me, I was still a pup myself being trained by his hand." Imasen nodded "but still you were there" Gomeg nodded "yes, I was"

Loresin spoke "the warriors of the deer and elk have banded together, we are wondering if your warriors would do the same?" Imasen nodded "my warriors are always ready, but to what end?" Loresin spoke "war, my son, we will fight alongside humans that serve our goddess' will, help them destroy forces who wish to rid these humans who have decided to help our kind."

Imasen turned to his herd, "like I said, we are ready, I will follow you mother, but why is it we leave to fight?" Naruto spoke "you leave to fight, not for yourselves, but for others, other demons who do not have a place like this, the only sanctuary out there is where I hail from, where Gomeg lives, where many Gyrfalcons live, only there can a demon walk and live in peace with humans, safe from harm."

Naruto spoke "Imasen, the elk and deer fight because it is the right thing to do, demons help other demons when they need it the most." Imasen stood then slowly he turned. He rose up on his hind quarters. "Listen up!" He thudded to the earth, head tossing about. He stood emaculate with power as he honed in all member of his herd.

"The deer and elk leave for war, will we of the thunder hills herd let them go alone?" A cry from the horses rose up "NO!" Imasen nodded "good, then we will leave to help these other demons keep their home! We all know that others do not have a haven like this to call their own. This is a terrible thing, we must help these other demons, they may be strangers, but they are demons none the less, and we are kin, we are family, and family helps each other."

The horses nodded and whinnied in agreement. Like the deer and elk, warriors split from the elders, pregnant, and young. Imasen and his warriors traveled with Loresin, Arthis, Gomeg, Naruto and the lemmings, on the way they had joined up with Sokol and Botis, who had somehow manage to convince a great number of hawks, eagles and crows to join.

Another interesting thing was, news had spread throughout the valley of these demons who came from another sanctuary in danger, following the old code of demons, many had came to join. Scores of rabbit demons came, several of them knew about herbs and healing, making them a large group of healers. Not just rabbit demons, but three fox sisters, all of them old, had long been in hiding, they revealed themselves to be healers that rivaled Gomegs abilities.

Throughout the valley they came. The most surprising ones were the bears, they had came like lumbering giants slowly following in a long lone line. Twenty of them. Upon their backs was strapped massive long bows, the bears themselves stood at least nine to twelve feet when they stood. They were almost five to six feet wide, with long thick muzzles and wide powerful paws.

All of them a shaggy brown or a deep chestnut color. Their bows were easily nine or ten feet in length, the bolts they shot six feet long. With massive fletching. Luckily they used no arrowheads, instead they sharpened branches with their claws. They came to Naruto "We, have traveled far, from the south. We heard of a white wolf demon from a different land who was putting together an army to stop bad humans, we come to ask, how can one have an army...with no archers?"

The one who spoke grinned widely. His teeth stained yellow. Naruto grinned "I thought we were missing something, I am Naruto, I would be honored to have you among us." The bear nodded "I am Brek, these are my men, my friends Bulmug and Dither come from the south, they are slowed but will arrive tomorrow if you wish to wait" Naruto turned and glanced at their steadily growing numbers.

He turned back "well, if this part of the valley can stand the numbers, we can wait." Brek grinned then turned and roared to his men, They roared back.

* * *

Naruto stood on top of the hill. He looked down, he last time he counted the numbers, they stood all in all about 600 strong. At least for cavalry, which was deer, elk, horses, moose, even a few prides of lions and some tigers. They also had Bulmug, leader of the earth chargers, a group of leathal rhino's. They had special forces, the healers, archers, beserkers (Dither and his men, ten of the roughest toughest gorilla axe-men you ever did see) stood at fifty strong in total.

Then their was air units, Naruto didn't even want to try counting them. Almost every demon bird in the valley, from the long limbed cranes, to the skulking vultures had joined. There was also some solitary demons, Naruto felt sad for Biskask, the only elephant demon in the valley. She had lived a long and saddening life, loosing her herd in a great sandstorm, she wandered lost across the deserts of Suna and came into this land.

Naruto liked their forces, he thought Konoha would be glad in need of them all. But then they heard news. News that chilled Naruto to his core. A group of goat demons had been in way to help bolster the numbers of healers, when they were attacked and slaughtered by the wolf demons. Taking advantage of the confusion in the land, the wolf demon pack had been preying on unprotected herds.

This caused major out cry, especially among the herd demons. Naruto howled and cut their arguing and bickering he spoke. "I will go and face my kind, I will go alone, I will make sure that your herds are protected when we leave, you have my word." He then moved through the parting crowds,all of them admired him, this lone wolf, who was willing to fight his own species, to protect and uphold true justice and his word.

The lemmings of course followed him chanting out "Chukalook! look look!"

* * *

**Well this is defiantly becoming interesting is it not?**

**Once again, I need questions for my Q and A, things like 'what made you decide to start writing this story?' or like 'where do you get the inspirations' or...well things like that.**

**NSW**


	71. The Wolves of Jagged Valley

**Life as A Fox**

**Chapter 70 OMG CHAPTER 70! ummmmm FREE...GIANT POCKY YAY!*throws pocky at readers***

**NSW-The Forsaken Author of the Lost Story (see my bio for explanation)**

* * *

Naruto traveled, following his nose, he could smell his kind easily. The lemmings had quieted down and now were at a brisk trot behind his own. He paused and sniffed the air, ignoring the barrage at his back legs as all the lemmings ran into them-it was a common occurence.

He turned and began walking in the direction the scent was strongest. He then ran into it. It was the scent border of the wolves territory. Naruto took a deep breath and turned to the lemmings "I don't know if you can understand me right now, but I am going into danger, you may get hurt by following me...do you still wish to come?"

The lemmings looked to each other then one scampered out. He looked up at Naruto then ran over to where the scent marker was. He covered it up with his own. Naruto chuckled at this. "Very well, let's go."

Naruto traveled for quite some ways before he was noticed. Five wolves came out, snapping and growling, they circled around him. The lemmings made a ring around Naruto, growling and yelling in their strange tongue at the wolves.

Naruto calmed them, then he turned to the nearest wolf, a charcoal gray. "I am Naruto, an alpha from far away, I come to speak to your alpha, I mean no harm" The wolf snapped at him "and yet, three of our young ones say you attacked them."

Naruto shook his head "no, I did not, I mearly reacted in self-defense, I had to protect myself and friends" The gray wolf scoffed at this "I should rip you apart where you stand" he spat. Naruto turned a leveling gaze at him, they stared into each others eyes, the gray wolf ended up looking away, Naruto's gaze was too powerful.

Naruto spoke "and yet...here I stand unscathed, face it, if you wanted to cause harm to me, you would have already done so, which means your alpha must have ordered you not to harm me, now I am asking you, not ordering you, to take me to him, I wish to speak, and speak only."

The gray wolf growled but turned, barking orders to the others. They formed a circle around Naruto and the lemmings. The lemmings hissed at the wolves, who growled back at the creatures. Naruto gave the lemmings a stern look, they quieted down once more.

They traveled quite a way and came to a place that was made of rock, two large slabbed hills of rock, with cave opening all around. Wolves came out from the caves and growled and barked at Naruto. They watched him from above and watched him from around the circle of other wolves that was his guard.

Naruto looked about and saw bones, gnawed and picked clean, two bony pups fought over a small bone. Fighting for the marrow that might be inside of it. All around he looked and he saw famine and hunger, it was then he knew why the wolves were attacking demons, they had no choice, when the cry of hungry pups and stomachs was heard, even the most wise of wolves would turn to do unwise things to silence those voices.

The numbers kept on coming, it was a sea of gray,black,charcoal, white, tan and brown fur, even a few darker red pelts in the mix. Eyes of every color yellow,green,brown, slate, and even a few blue-eyed ones followed and watched his every move.

Naruto also noted that a few wolves had bone peircing's in their ears and noses. Some had fur decorations of feathers and paint. One wolf almost had a mane of feathers, while another had carved pebbles and rocks braided into the longest parts of his fur.

Naruto looked closer to the wolves around him and on closer inspection, he noted that they each had a small piercing or painted design on them in some way shape or form. He wondered why they did this. But shrugged it from mind.

He was actully quite jealous of a white wolf like him, who had painted his entire body with strange blue tribal designs. Naruto was even more shocked though when he saw another wolf wearing the skill of a wolf over his head, looking like a grotesque helmet.

As Naruto got deeper into wolf territory, he noted that more and more of the wolves wore the wolf skull helmets and had bones attached to their claws;Making them even more deadly. Naruto shivered at the thought of getting attacked by someone who was wearing them.

Finally they stopped him. "Stay here" the charcoal one said. Naruto waited patiently. He glanced about many of the wolves were staring at him wil leering eyes, salivating. He was confused then happened to look down, the wolves were looking at the lemmings not him.

He took a more protective stance over them. The lemmings edged closer to him as well. Naruto looked about, most of the wolves had now appeared and just stared at him (or the lemmings) silently, waiting for something. Then a howl went up, a powerful edging one, that sent Naruto's fur bristling.

The wolves around him lowered their heads, pups his behind their mothers, and a silence desended upon the wolves a stillness even. He arose up from a high jagged rock. He stood like a king towering above his people. His fur a glistening black, glowing like obsidion in fire.

His eyes, were an ice pale blue, cold and fierce he leveled all with his look. All but one, Naruto matched him. BOth of them were Alpha's both of them, were the top leaders, they were on the same level in the wolf hierarchy. So that is why Naruto did not submit to him nor did he submit to Naruto.

Instead they carried themselves in equal neutrality. The alpha made it to the ground the three agile hops. He landed and walked forward, head held high. Naruto carried his head at the same height but stayed where he was. The wolf was older then Naruto, by perhaps a ten or twenty years, but he still held all the vigor and strength of youth.

He like Naruto bore many scars of many fights he had fought and won. Along his legs and chest, he also had a single scar on his forehead. The leader spoke, in a calm manner, that for some odd reason held a slight coldness. This wolf could be comparable to a winter tundra, cold defient, yet also welcoming to any wolf who cared to run and be a free one.

"Who are you?" he asked simply "I am Naruto, Alpha from Konoha" the leader mearly flicked an ear at this, the other wolves talked among themselves in hushed and murmured tones. The alpha merely turned his head and they silenced themselves instantly.

He spoke "greetings Naruto, I am Fenrir Alpha of the jagged valley pack, I have heard news of you from other demons, you are herding away all of our prey, why is that?" Naruto said nothing for a moment. Then spoke "I only am gathering numbers, I need an army of demons to fight for demons, that is all, I take no prey, I take only my kin."

Fenrir curled his lip ever so slightly. Naruto was not detoured. "I have come here to ask of you Fenrir, alpha of the jagged valley pack, why is it you hunt kin? Are we demons not all family? Even if we are of different species?" There was a tremor of fear that ran through every wolf there, no one talked to Fenrir like so!

Fenrir chuckled "You forget Naruto, we are wolves, we eat meat, when you scared away the regular animals we used to hunt, what were we supposed to turn to? Grass? berries? No, instead we turned our heads to easy pickings, herds of young, weak and old, it is our way of the wolves to purge the weak from this world."

Naruto shook his head "no, you are wrong to do such thing, you know that they are left behind because the strongest of them went to war, knowing that their mates, young and elders would thought to be safe" Fenrir grinned savagely.

He spoke to his pack, "You hear this wolf? He speaks of such strange ways, instead of hunting the weak, he protects them! He fought of three of his own kind, to save a group of wandering elders!" The pack yipped and yowled in laughter.

Naruto spoke, his voice deep and stong like the roots of an oak tree. Where Fenrir held a cold merciless power with his voice, Naruto held something much bigger, he held a emanating burning power, that seared you to the bone with his words.

He spoke and the pack hushed. "Those elders hold much wisdom, wisdom that makes them strong, not in body but in spirit and mind, much stronger then you or I, the body deteriorate with time, but the mind does not, you would be wise to let the old live their lives, much guidance they can bring."

Naruto looked about "Do you not have elders? Tell me, if it is our duties to purge the weak from the world, would that mean purging weakness from your own pack? If so, then many of you would die" He stated it matter-of-factly. Fenrir stared at him.

THe entire pack stared at him, they stared because they knew he was right. Naruto continued "It does not feel nice, telling someone who they are too weak so they are not fit to live, where I come from...every life is special, every life is sacred, weak only means that with time they can grow to be strong, stronger then anything else in the world if given enough attention and time."

Naruto turned back to Fenrir, "I understand that your pack cries in hunger, it is hard for an alpha to stand by and watch his pack members slip from his grasp...it is a feeling I know only to well, but Fenrir, my brother...do not forsake yourselves to save yourselves."

Fenrir was silent for a long time, his pack looked to Fenrir, they always did, he was their Alpha, he was their leader, he would guide them, he always did. Fenrir spoke "then what would you have me do?" Fenrir asked "Sit by and wait for the animals to come back? By then half of my pack would be dead"

Naruto nodded understanding Fenrir's fear "I am sorry to say that your pack has outgrown this valley, in nature that would mean just as you say, letting your pack numbers dwindle back down to the appropriate size for the valley to sustain you."

Naruto shook his head "but this in itself is wrong, we are demons not animals, we are smart and have powers bigger and greater than that, instead why not take my offer?" Fenrir glanced at him "What offer is that? Fight for you? FIght alongside humans? For what? Demons we barely even know?"

Naruto spoke "It would mean making sure every member of your pack was fed and healthy for all the days of their lives." Fenrir paused Naruto spoke "I barely know any of you, and yet, I come here offering you help, I could leave you, and leave behind warriors to protect the weakened herds, and you could sit here, cowering in your caves and among your empty bones, waiting and watching as you slowly die of hunger"

He turned "Or, you could join my cause and be fed, and you can be wolves for a change, real wolves...demon wolves, who actually know how to fight and bring fear to anyone that stand in your way!" He yelled at them instilling them with passion.

Many of the warriors nodded, skulled heads nodded eagerly around him, happy growls filled the air, they danced about, claws digging and scrabbling across the rock, creating an odd symphony of grating music. A low humming filled the air as many of wolf demon keened on a certain note.

The energy grew stronger and crackled. Hows and yips began to emanate from a few. Fenrir spoke, "I agree with my pack! For too long have we lived and not really lived! For too long have we hunted and not be filled! It is time for us to re-claim our birthright my pack! It is time we show the world, what we the demons wolves...CAN DO!"

Slowly one by one they picked up in a chant, a chant that was infectious. Even Naruto could not fight it, he just knew it was his duty to raise up his voice in it, to join together with others of his own kind, to feel truly one with himself and those around him, to truly be a wolf.

"Wo wo wo wo wo wo wo wo  
Yeh yeh yeh yeh yeh yeh yeh  
Yeh yeh yeh yeh yeh yeh yeh  
Wo wo wo wo wo wo wo wo"

Then, the white wolf Naruto had saw before rose up and began to sing.

"Living to the beat of earth, and running under stars of light"

"Finding that we as one, can survive through the winter nights"

"side by side, we stand stong, learning that we get along"

"we are wolves, and we are free, only in a pack can we..."

There was a sudden hush in the music

"survive" she whispered loudly.

All around a symphony of howls went up. she sung once more

"so raise your voices, my dear kin!"

"for we are to begin, the journey of a thousand days, begins to us in one small way..."

"lifting voices in a howl, we know that...we can live"

Then they were dancing and play fighting around each other, the lemming joined in and sung in odd descents and harmonies, together all the wolves blended and mixed their voices and together they created a true wolf song.

Naruto and Fenrir howled next to each other, for they were Alpha's they could howl with their heads held in the same positions, neither higher nor lower then the other. Naruto shivered as he felt a great opening inside of him, he knew, he finally knew what it truly meant to be, to be a wolf, and not just a wolf...a demon one, because know he knew, he and Yume were no longer alone.

* * *

**Well, I am not notable for my song writing, that is just something I pulled out of my...rear so...yeah, I have to get to class.**

**NSW**


	72. Humanity

**Life as A Fox**

**Chapter 71**

**NSW-The Forsaken Author of the Lost Story (see my bio for explanation)**

* * *

Naruto and Fenrir walked at the front of the pack. The entire pack followed them. All the pups, all the elders, every last one. Naruto led them to the others who waited. Naruto was welcomed among the other members of the army, but the wolves were not as welcome.

Naruto silenced most of the arguments and spoke frankly "The wolves of this valley have committed some terrible mistakes, but we shall not judge them as that, think of yourselves, how far would yo go to protect and save your herd? What would you do to save your family from the brink of death? The wolves only did what they could to survive, they now know that it was wrong, and are willing to make up for it, but right now we cannot have disputes among us, we have to stand as one against the enemy...now...who is with me?"

He looked about, the demons all nodded Naruto was right, now was the time to put past grievences behind them. They accepted the wolves among them, but made sure to keep a watchful eye on them. Naruto turned to the main generals of the army, Gomeg was leader of the healers. Arthis and Imasen were leaders of the cavalry troops. Sokol was put in charge of all the fliers, and he had many others underneath his command to help.

The archers were under the command of Brek the great bear. Bulmug and his fierce earth chargers stood along with Dither and his berserker. Naruto organized them all. The faster moving creatures were put in the front of the line, while the heavier and more weighed down demons were placed in the back.

It was slow-moving going through the cave pass, the fliers easily flew out of the valley, but for the demons on foot, it was very slow indeed, at least at first. Bulmug and his men finally came up and using their amazing prowess, they shifted and moved the earth by stomping the ground in special patterns, like a dance they worked together and the cave opened larger and larger.

Soon Instead of moving through the cave in a single file trickle, they were moving in mass numbers out of the valley. The demons at first were hesitant being in this new land, but Naruto led them and guided them through. A large cloud of dust signaled where they were, the shaking of the earth of so many numbers also forwarned others that they were coming.

Naruto had made them all take a rest and he took the best of the hunters and went into the forests, there they hunted and collected as many animals as they could. That night all the meat eaters ate heartily, especially the wolves, that night not a pup went hungry which made Fenrir very happy.

* * *

Naruto looked up to the stars he was comforted by them, Fenrir turned to him, over the days him and Naruto formed a special bond, one of kinship. Neither one before had a person that had the same burdens as the other. Both were alpha's, both had responsibilities, both had to go unselfishly outside of themselves to do what was best for the pack.

Fenrir spoke "You said, that you knew about how I felt, about losing pack members, the fear of losing them, please explain this to me" Naruto sighed it was always a sore wound bringing up the past, but he knew that the more he talked about it the less it would hurt.

He turned to Fenrir, "The humans, in ways are not that different from us, they have families and packs, people who they care about most in this world. I had three young human pups to guide and take care of, to teach the ways of the warrior to, to train."

Fenrir nodded "I understand, you had responsibility over three humans, you must be greatly respected among them" Naruto nodded "both me and Gomeg are, the humans of Konoha, you will see for yourself soon enough, but they do not judge or hate like other villages, they have compassion, understanding, a will of fire that never burns out, always steadily burning."

Fenrir nodded "If this is true, then I am quite glad to offer my services, I thank-you once agian Naruto for helping my pack" Naruto nodded "of course, we are kin? Are we not?" Fenrir smirked "of course, now the human pups?" Naruto nodded "right" he said getting back on track "well, I trained them good in stong, I even formed soul lines with them."

Fenrir was astonished by this "soul lines? with humans!...Is that...even possible?" Naruto shrugged "I don't know, but I guess it is so" Fenrir looked away deep in thought. Naruto continued "I...well, some bad humans from outside of our village, they are the humans we demons are so used to, hateful and spiteful to our kind, they wanted to destroy the village, much like the humans who now march towards Konoha at this moment."

Fenrir nodded "there will always be those who hate and discriminate Naruto, you can't change everyone" Naruto nodded "I know this, but you still have to try, that is the only thing you can do" Fenrir nodded "Some do not even do that, the fear of failure...will dishinder some from trying, they think if they don't try they don't fail...but even that in itself is failure."

Naruto smirked "You are a very insightful wolf Fenrir" Fenrir nodded "why thank-you, but you are not too foolish yourself" Naruto chuckled at this. "The humans had stolen something precious from them, wisdom that the humans had written down to remember forever, secrets of Konoha that few knew, sacred things."

Fenrir listened patiently. Naruto sighed "I lead my pack against them, during a blizzard we hunted them down and fought, one...I lost in the battle. We managed to take the precious thing back..but I felt the cost..was too great, to lose something equally as precious to me."

Fenrir bowed his head showing that he greived for Naruto's loss. Naruto continued "we retreated, thinking we were safe, that the storm would cover up our tracks, but some humans they have special abilities, and these humans...they could see our energy sources even through a blizzard, miles away...we were ambushed, I lost one more, and another wounded greviously."

Naruto growled lowly "I will always resent that man, but I managed to mark him for the rest of his days, and one day I will finish the job, I know revenge is bad, that to go looking for blood is bad, but...I cannot let that man live happy after...after what he took from me."

Fenrir nudged Naruto with a shoulder "It is okay Naruto, revenge is a good emotion, like anything, you just must make sure you do not let it consume you, do not let it take over you." Naruto nodde "I know, I once had a human friend who let that exact thing happen" Naruto said casting his eyes away, looking into the night.

He sighed as he continued his story "I ran...I ran myself ragged, I was not to far from deaths door myself, I tore myself to peices...to try and save her, but by the time I got to Konoha...there was nothing they could do" Naruto bowed his head, a tear leaking from his eye.

Fenrir whined. Naruto turned to him "Losing all of my soul lines...was a terrible thing...few demons can recover from it, but...somehow I got through it, I mean...I lost myself I betrayed my human friends, I ran away for a time...but it was worth it, by my running away, I ran into...my one true love."

Fenrir grinned "Ah, I guessed you were mated." Naruto nodded "Of course, how could I not, she is the most beautiful creature, and together we have brought three pups into this world" Fenrir chuckled "that is good, I know they will grow to be fine wolves...I myself have not yet found the one to call my own, but my mother...the old Alpha female, she fills in until I find the true alpha female of the pack."

Naruto nodded "I see, so your father was Alpha before you?" Fenrir nodded "He was, that he was, sometimes I think, I could never be as good as a leader as he, at times I think, I am letting him down, that I am not strong or smart enough as he was, that I will always be in his shadow." Naruto nodded he knew only to well "Same here, my father...his legends and stories live on to this day, it's hard sometimes, son's of famous people, we are either living up to them...or trying to live them down."

Fenrir yawned "well, it was nice chatting with you Naruto, have a good rest, we need our strength for the coming days." Naruto nodded "of course we will" Naruto looked over the many still lumps of demons as they slept among each other. Mates with mates, pups with their mothers, tigers slept side by side with lions and deer. It was strange to see all these different creatures, come together in such a short amount of time, to trust and respect one another, it made Naruto realize just how special demons were, he wondered briefly, why did the gods hate creatures that had so much love to give?

* * *

Gaara of the sand was quiet as he looked about the troops who were practicing. Other ninja were fortifying the walls, and digging a long trench for the ground ninja to have as a place to hide from attack. They also were setting up blinds and stakes, things that would slow an enemy's charge. Above his head the Gyrfalcons were flying through intricate air patterns and battle practices.

They screeched and cawed to each other. That was the only noises that could be heard. The pounding of several forges, the roaring of fire as weapons and armor was being made. The dull thudding sounds of shovels and axes as the trench was dug, hammering of nails and creaking of wood as temporary shelters were made for the ninja. Pathways were cut in the earth as well, leading from the wall to the trench.

In case of the need for retreat and also a safe way to get supplies to the ninja and to get wounded and dead out of there. Gaara sighed slowly. He absent-mindedly weaved various shapes with his sand. It had become second nature to him that he didn't even notice. Bee walked up to him "Hey" he said. Gaara let go of this sand, it scattered to the ground then slowly drifted up into his gorde.

Bee balanced a blade on his arm and was swinging it around in half circles with ease. "You know, it's this part I hate the most, the waiting for it to begin, you know the battle is coming, and all you can do is prepare and prepare and fortify everything, and yet it feels like it will never come...and then it's here and you realize 'oh shit' we forgot to do this or we forgot to do that"

Gaara smirked at this, Bee could turn anything into a joke, at a time like this, sometimes humor was a welcomed release from the somber atmosphere of a war camp being built. Gaara turned to him "So, how are you taking it"? Bee glanced at him Gaara could just faintly see the contour of Bee's eye beneath the sun glasses. "I am presuming you are asking about Naruto right?" Gaara nodded.

Bee shrugged "I don't know...I kinda always knew that deep down...he wasn't gone, there was no way in hell that _that _boy was gone, he wouldn't stand it, he would curse and back mouth all the gods until he was kicked out of heaven if need be" Gaara nodded. "Naruto was...no is stubborn, he always gets his way no matter what." They heard a chuckle from behind, they turned to see a tall tan wolf, with piercing green eyes.

At her feet sat three pups, scrabbling and playing with each other. "You two both know my mate so well" Gaara nodded to her "You must be Yume" She nodded "yes, I am, Naruto spoke of you often, he called you two brothers" Gaara and Bee felt happy for a moment. Bee glanced down "I am guessing these are your pups?" Yume nodded "yes, we named them together, Minato, Gin and Mashi."

Bee smiled "beautiful pups, just like their mother" Yume laughed "you humans flatter me way to much" Gaara spoke "no, we humans just speak the truth, you have a radiant beauty." Yume grinned and padded over "you two are just like him, always telling me how good I am...I ma happy...it makes his absence...less then what it is" Gaara nodded and turned looking out.

Yume barked for the pups to follow her. They ran over to her and played around her and on Gaara and Bee's feet. Bee winced as Mashi bit his toes. Yume gave a low growl, Mashi stopped. Bee chuckled "he's a brave one I will give him that" Mashi looked up and barked at him. Gaara spoke "I am sure he will be here soon." Yume nodded "I both want him to be here and don't" Bee glanced down "what do you mean?"

Yume sighed "this will sound terrible when i say it but, if Naruto stays away, he will be safe, and if...we were not to prevail I could escape and we could live together in the wild, find a new home...like I said it sounds bad, but I don't know what I could do if I lost him..." Gaara nodded "that does not sound terrible, your fears are plausible, you are both wolves, well...at least Naruto is one now."

Yume looked to him in surprise "what do you mean? He was always a wolf" Gaara swore in his head, he didn't know that she didn't...then again, it would be a hard thing to explain. Yume spoke "Naruto...was not always a wolf...my mate?...Please...tell me" she said fianlly. Bee spoke "We thought you knew..." Yume spoke again "knew what?" "That Naruto was a human before."

Yume's heart stopped beating, she for a moment, had no idea what to do, what to think, that the person she loved most in this world, the one she had pups with...had been lying to her this whole time?

* * *

**So, a lot is going on, and the war hasn't even started...man I bet this will go past 100 chapters...yay!**

**NSW**


	73. Who He Was

**Life as A Fox**

**Chapter 72**

**NSW-The Forsaken Author of the Lost Story (see my bio for explanation)**

**I thank dimensiontimetraveler for pointing out various plot hole in my story, I guess I was so excited for the war I forgot to mention a few things, so this chapter will continue the story line but also explain several factors.**

**Thank-you once again dimensiontimetraveler!**

* * *

Shinjin looked out at their numbers. They spanned the entire camp and the surrounding forest. The skies were filled with the beating of wings. The Lumenion had prospered much, at the moment, they reproduced asexually, a strange sac would appear on one, it would grow throughout the entire day, then over night it would burst.

Over the next couple days the hatchling creature would grow and develop in rapid speed, becoming a full adult in only a few short days. Within a week the Lumenion's numbers doubled, soon they would double again. Shinjin was impressed their army was so massive, the very ground trembled when they marched!

However it was because of this size that greatly slowed them down. But such things could not be accounted for, however he knew that they would be found out upon, it was only a matter of time, but he did not care, warning or no...Konoha would fall.

Shinjin looked forward as the army marched in from the south lands of Konoha.

* * *

In the way north of Konoha Naruto paused on top of a hill, he turned to Sokol "send a messenger to fly ahead to Konoha, tell them that the infantry and cavalry will be there in three days, the special forces and medics will arrive a few days after."

Sokol nodded and flew off. Naruto turned due to their size, they were greatly slowed down, plus a gient herd of creatures their size...was quite noticable. So they decided to break the army up into smaller parts. The faster animals forging on ahead, while the others moving at their own pace.

Naruto also liked this idea because then they would have an ace in the hole if need be. A surprise fighting force, something that could turn the tide of the war if need be. Naruto let out two loud barks, setting the pace of the march a little faster.

* * *

Bee and Gaara walked through the streets of Konoha "dammit we messed up BIG time" Gaara nodded "I feel so bad...why did I have to say it? Why?" he asked out loud, not expecting an answer. He sighed once more he glanced out at the empty houses.

Gaara turned to Bee "where are the villagers?" Bee spoke "they have been moved sector by sector to the war bunkers in the mountain side, there is enough food and accommodations for them to live awhile there" Gaara nodded "that is good, I have always wondered though...how do they feel about these things? The villagers have not always been the kindest to Naruto...from what I remember."

Bee shook his head "yeah I know what you mean, but they have been brought around to see a different side of things." Gaara galnced to him "how so?" Bee shrugged "Naruto, he never gave up, he kept on trying, he showed them that even though he has a demon inside of him, he can be good, then Naruto did all those things when the Akatsuki attacked, he saved all the villagers...with some help of the Kyuubi."

Gaara nodded that was true "yeah but that just means they like Naruto...not demons" Bee nodded "yeah at first, but then the Kyuubi did stop the war, it was not all ninja at that battle, all the helpers and cooks of the five shinobi nations were villagers, they saw what the Kyuubi did, they saw that a creature they hated and feared...saved their lives."

Gaara nodded understanding, it was just like after Naruto had saved him from death, he was not expecting to be so many people who cared...and loved him. Gaara nodded "I guess that would bring a few people to sway." Bee nodded "plus, well...things change, ideals change, that is nature I guess...then there is Kakashi, he has spoken about the importance of demons, and accepting...things"

Gaara raised an eye-brow "accepting thing?" Bee glowered "shut-up yo! I'm a rapper not no god dang...wise men cracker!" Gaara could help himself he started laughing. Bee took a swipe at him. But Gaara's sand protected him while Gaara clutched at his stomach as he broke out in large donkey like bray's.

Bee muttered under his breath then began to laugh at Gaara's strange laugh. Soon both of them were laughing together, to the point of crying. Kakashi during this time had came to have council with them, he had to stand in awkward confusion as the two kage's calmed down.

Kakashi spoke "are you done yet?" Kakashi asked. Gaara chuckled still yet "y...yeah...just, Bee said something really funny" Kakashi stared blankly at him "ah, I see...well if you are done I would like to speak to you about the war coming up...but if you want to stand here and laugh your asses off that's fine."

Gaara sobered up "no, we are serious, sorry I just have a question for you" Kakashi nodded "well...we were wondering, how is it, did you convince the civilians to be so open to demons?" Kakashi sighed "it wasn't easy, and not all of them are so open, but they are no longer the majority, so they just shut-up and push through life, which I guess is a good thing at times."

Bee nodded "I guess, I mean it's like standing in front of a stampede of bulls, if you try to fight it...your going to gouged, but if you just turn tail and roll with them, you might come out alive." Gaara and Kakashi galnced at each other then to Bee.

Him and Kakashi just shrugged. Bee spoke "anyway, you said you needed us?" Kakashi nodded "yeah we wanted to go through some manuevers with you." Bee and Gaara nodded "of course" Kakashi nodded "good, lets' get going-"

"I am looking for the human called Kakashi!" A bird screeched overhead, Kakashi looked up expecting to see a Gyrfalcon, but no it was not, it was a different bird. It was a red-tailed hawk. Kakashi spoke "I am he" The bird swooped around and landed.

"Greetings human Kakashi, General Naruto has sent me ahead to deliver a messege" Kakashi nodded "General? er...very well what is it?" The hawk glanced up "The cavalry and infantry troops will be here within three days, the special forces and medics will arrive within the week, please prepare an ample food supply of meat...and grass..please Kakashi...sensei"

Kakashi cocked his head the bird spoke "He told me to say it exactly like that" Kakashi nodded "very well..wait...cavelry...infantry...how many demons did he find?" The bird spoke "the other air forces are about an hour away, we will land shortly, in numbers we stand 600 or more."

Kakashi's eye bulged "six...hundred...six hundred...demons?" The bird nodded. Kakashi nodded "thank-you...please...rest" The bird nodded and bowed then flew away. Kakashi turned to them "Gaara, Bee, we are going to need a lot of meat...and hay" Gaara and Bee nodded.

Gaara spoke "we have many desert bison, 900 hundred pounds each, a herd of 200 should keep the demons satisfied correct?" Kakashi nodded "we have some beef farms we can hold them over until you bring the bison." gaara nodded "I will send for them right away."

Bee spoke "I will go and grab some people to help gather grain and grasses." Kakashi nodded "I will go prepare space for the 600 demons" Gaara, Bee, and Kakashi nodded to each other then ran like the hounds of hell were on their heels.

* * *

Yume sat with her pups. They crawled about her begging to play, but how could she? Her mind was troubled. Hinata came in to sit down on the couch. Yume spoke "Who was he before?" Hinata froze "who?" Yume looked up she was tired of people trying to deflect her questions...she wanted answers! She growled for the first time. "Naruto! who was he? I need to know about my mate!"

Hinata sat down slowly stunned at Yume's outburst. Hinata sighed and spoke "Naruto has only changed in body Yume, he is the same person you fell in love with, only instead of two legs he has four. Yume relaxed slightly. Hinata got up and went into her back room. Grabbing a few photographs that Sakura had given her. She carried them out and set them in front of Yume.

Yume looked down at the pictures. A smiling young human, with Naruto' eyes...no it was Naruto, Hinata was right it was her mate, when she looked at that humans face, she felt the very same feelings as she did when she looked to Naruto. The same caring, the same love he had for everything dear to him, he was the same. She relaxed but she was still sad why had he lied to her?

Yume spoke "how come he never told me?" Hinata sighed "I don't know, maybe he thought you would not love him after finding out he was once a human, that you would distrust him and hate him for it." Yume shook her head "no, no, I love Naruto for his soul not his body, we are connected to each other by our hearts, I would not hate him, or want to break away from him if he had told me."

Hinata nodded "that is good, but I suppose Naruto was scared you might." Mashi dashed forward and began to claw the photos. Yume stopped him by picking him up by the scruff and setting him down on the floor, he tried to go forward again so Yume placed a firm paw on his tail, planting him in place.

Yume spoke "I suppose, that would be something he would think, but Hinata...how did he end up like this? How did he turn into a demon?" Hinata sighed she opened her eyes up then spoke. "It started a long time ago, when a great beast known as the nine tails attacked this village..."

* * *

**Mwahahahaha I am getting so much done, damn I love work days in the mac lab. The mac's aren't to bad themselves, I just have to negotiate with them sometimes.**

**NSW**


	74. The Charge of Konoha

**Life as A Fox**

**Chapter 73**

**NSW-The Forsaken Author of the Lost Story (see my bio for explanation)**

**Also I have a new story out called 'A Forgiven Father' It is something I have written on the side for a while, and it's chock full of OC's but..you might enjoy it, it's kind of hard to explain...so just check it on your spare time.**

* * *

Yume was silent after Hinata told her the story. The pups had thankfully quited down and were sleeping peacefully next to her side. Yume didn't know what to say, the story was long, but it explained everything. She turned her head and looked out the window the sun's dying rays shined into the house, making it glow like a candle.

Hinata got up, the wood floor creaked ever so slightly beneath her pale, soft feet. She got up and made some tea for herself. By the smell Yume could tell it was peach tea. It wafted through the house and filled it with a soothing scent. Yume sighed her body relaxing and her worries drifting away for but a moment.

Hinata came back in. Yume glanced up "I now understand him" Hinata sipped the tea from a tan cup and plopped down on the couch. Yume continued "I never understood how a wolf could live among humans and love them like Naruto does, but this makes since, and I find it ironic."

Hinata glanced to her, those strange pupiless eyes, soft pale lavender, Yume could not understand how everything about this women was soft...and yet...hard at the same time. Her delicate fingers...they actully were quite callosed and strong.

Yume adjusted herself, trying not to wake the pups. Hinata spoke "How is it ironic?" Yume cast her eyes over Hinata's features. "It took a human to teach us demons...how to be demons." Hinata nodded "I understand, but sometimes life is strange...is it not?"

Yume nodded "life is not just strange though...it is happy, and sad...and scary sometimes all at the same time." Yume said glancing down "happy, that I have a mate and pups, sad that my mate is gone, and scary that a war is upon us."

Hinata nodded agreeing with her. "But we make it through such things, because even though life at times is scary and hard, and other times it is happy, and then there are those dark sad times, we know that as long as we believe in each other, and believe in ourselves...we can make it through life."

Yume nodded "it is strange...how being a mother changes us" Hinata nodded agreeing with her again. She took a sip of the tea. "Of course, we brought life into this world, we feel the effects of it, being responsible for new life and the future of our kind."

Yume nodded "that is true" Yume turned once more to the window. "I just...I think I still need time...to think about all this." Hinata nodded "That is expected, I would be worried if you didn't need some time to think." Hinata got up, drinking the last sip of tea she retreated into the kitchen, and soon the sounds and smells of supper assaulted Yume's senses.

* * *

Naruto continued to lead the group to Konoha. The sun beat down on them. The wind blew at them. Naruto could just faintly smell the familiar scents of Konoha. The nurturing scents of the trees and forests, filled with creatures and life. Already they began to enter the them. About them the trees grew, the ancient forest had been here for many generations, their trunks a deep filling brown.

Their branches arched into the sky, creating a canopy. The sunlight filtered down through the leaves creating a green overcast to everything. Naruto felt calm walking beneath the trees. He turned back towards the rest. "We will arrive shortly" the others yipped, howled, growled or made whatever sound effect that meant happiness for them. They continued moving, pressing forward faster, their strength renewed.

The closer they weaved their way to Konoha the more the smells of food, metal,earth and many other assaulted their senses. Then they broke through the line of the forest. At first the sun's light blinded them, but then like a a ripple on the water, the image faded in to view. There stood proud and defiant Konoha, the capital of the fire country, filled with the lovers of demons, the light of Naruto's life.

It was odd to see the beginning stages of trenches and pickets and spikes be layed out upon the ground of his humble home. It was odd to smell the tang of metal and fire on the natural scent of his homeland. But he knew that this was what had to be, that this was the course of things. He paused and turned to Fenrir, "soon, you shall meet my mate and my pack."

Naruto lifted his head back and howled, his howl breaking the dull sounds of the camp. An answering howl went up. Naruto knew it was Yume. Then the skies were filled as many a demon bird. Naruto turned to the ones behind them "come let them see our mighty numbers." Fenrir grinned savagely "Why see when they can hear?" Fenrir and his pack let up howls.

Then ascending high into the skies, the calls, roars and sounds of demons as they roared out with their voices, higher and louder than the next trying to be the loudest. Naruto and Fenrir broke our into a run. The army trailing behind them, trying to beat them as well. Naruto looked back to all those bodies moving out of the forest, they spanned out and in a large arrow-headed shape they charged for Konoha.

* * *

Kakashi, Bee, Gaara, and every other ninja in Konoha was scrambling for the wall trying to see this remarkable event. No words could begin to describe the sheer massive feeling that one felt when seeing such a large group of creatures, running side-by-side, full of vigor and energy, filled with so much life! Running in a joyous chorus of sound they stampeded towards the gate.

The gate was being opened by now. Naruto was at the head, you could see his peculiar coat anywhere. A black wolf strode next to him. Behind them more and more wolves, then tigers...lions...then from out of the forest...deer! Elk! Horses! tons and tons of horses and more and more creatures than you could describe! All that stood on the wall were in awe, they stood slack-jawed and silent.

But one by one they came to their senses and turned and leaped down off the wall to meet up with Naruto and the main leaders of the demons. The demons were filing into Konoha, drinking and resting in the area's that had been built for them. The carnivores began to polish off the feeding troughs of meat, taking enough to survive and not be glutenous about it.

Naruto himself grabbed a flank and began to share it with Fenrir. He knew that many in Konoha wished to speak to him, but he was hungry, it was a long trek. He looked about, the main front stores and buildings had been knocked down to make room. Many a lean-to and shelters were made, straw was laid down so that they would have something to sleep on.

Then a scent drifted across Naruto's nose he snapped his head around, there was Yume and his pups. He ran to them and licked her cheek and nuzzled her. She nuzzled and licked back but he felt a hesitance about her. He turned down and licked each one of his pups. He stood up and confronted her "What is the matter?" he asked. "Naruto, I found out about you, the truth of who you are."

His eyes widened he looked down, "you...probably hate me now, are disgusted She shook her head "no, no, I love you still, I will always love you! You are my mate, the thing that I am sad about is why you did not tell me earlier." Naruto sighed "I know Yu-yu, I know, believ me it has eaten away at me, But...I din't want to lose you." She nodded understanding.

They joined heads and rested against each other for a bit. Naruto turned "I want you to meet someone" He looked to Fenrir "THis is Fenrir, alpha of the Jagged Valley pack" Yume nodded to him. Fenrir did as well. "I am greatly honored to meet the alpha female of this great pack." Fenrir turned to the white aged wolf with blue tribal marking on her fur. She spoke "I am Mastat, alpha female tempore of-" she cut off as she stared at Yume.

She leaned forward, "no...it can't be, you would have died, you were so young...the winter harsh...yet" Mastat peered closer to Yume. "Your pelt...exactly like his...and...you bear the same features that he once had." Yume backed away confused "I think you are greatly confused." Mastat "no, I am not, you are her...you are my daughter" Yume, Naruto, Fenrir, and the rest of the wolves became silent at Mastats statement.

* * *

**Hee...hee...heee I am coming up with so many things I sometimes forget! Well I hope you enjoy this little tidbit I threw at you...WARNING flashbacks will soon be ahead, have patience my readers, have patience.**

**NSW**


	75. Drifting

**Life as A Fox**

**Chapter 74**

**NSW-The Forsaken Author of the Lost Story (see my bio for explanation)**

**Also I have a new story out called 'A Forgiven Father' It is something I have written on the side for a while, and it's chock full of OC's but..you might enjoy it, it's kind of hard to explain...so just check it on your spare time.**

* * *

Naruto and Yume glanced to each other than Yume glanced to Mastat "how can this be?" Mastat spoke. "I was not born in the valley like the other demon wolves, and before I came there I was a young female, I had a mate who died, you were our only child...it is a long story, but you need to hear this"

* * *

_Begin flashback_

_Mastat's belly growled loudly, she glanced to her mate, he was a coyote demon, wolf demons were far and few in-between, and none she had ever met were right for her, they loved each other, but they were not soul mates. But they were content with this and were happy. She spoke "Bekill we must find food soon, my milk is almost dry."_

_Bekill nodded "I know my love, but there is nothing in this valley, all the animals are starving. The prey have fled" But still they managed to get two bony stringy rabbits to feed on. Mastat ate and ran to her pup, the only on of the litter, a little girl, she seemed perfectly fine, she had her father's coat and green eyes, but she could see that she would grow into a stong wolf._

_Bekill continued to hunt while Mastat shared her body heat with her pup, who greedily suckled at what milk that remained. She slept soundly but heard a fearful noise that made her awake with a start. She ran holding her pup in her jaws. Fear running down her spine, as she dashed and leaped through the dead undergrowth of the forest._

_The forest was cold and desolate, nothing made a noise, and the dry wood and branches snapped at her as she ran through them. She tripped upon something and she vaulted in the air. She landed on the frozen earth hard. She got up, her pup whimpered next to her, Mastat licked her to soothe the frail thing. She turned her head 'what did I trip on?' her heart almost stopped as she saw the body of her precious mate._

_He lay gutted and bloody large chunks torn from his frail bony body. His eyes stared out at her, surprise and pain frozen upon his perfect face. His mouth hung open, blood still yet dripped from it. She howled in sadness, no! this could not be! She rushed towards him, burying her nose into his scent, his beautiful sent the smell of sagebrush and summer grass._

_She whimpered and muttered his name over and over, what had done this? She glanced down. Large tracks were imprinted in Bekill's blood that stained the forest floor. She glanced around the forest was still deathly silent, this forest was cold and frozen, she hated this place now more than ever! Her mate lay dead and not even the forest would reveal the murderer!_

_She heard the whimpering of her pup as it scrabbled on the cold ground, shaking from the bitterness of it. Mastat rushed to the pup and grabbed it by its scruff. She would have to find a place to keep it safe, a place that was warm and full of food, a place where she and the pup could grow, and where she could mourn the loss of her mate._

_She turned, but something happened, in natural forests, the sound of silence meant something bad was happening, but in this forest it was opposite, in this clod desolate place, any noise meant something not right was upon you. She turned an angry bear shoved its way through the branches, shoulder aside trees like it was nothing, the bear was hungry as well, driven out of its sleep by the cold and the hunger, it wanted food, and a scrawny coyote was not even safe from its vengeful paws._

_Mastat growled and ran, she had strength to do so. The bear roared and chased after her, she could smell the blood of her mate upon the bears breath that breathed down her neck, she could already hear the sound of her body being torn to pieces by the bears vicious claws. She shook her head no! She would not give up! She would fight it! _

_Mastat growled and suddenly veered of the path, inbetween to larger trees that would slow the hulking bear down. She pushed her pup into the hollow of a tree, and placed leaves inside to insulate the pup. Mastat turned, she would protect her pup and legacy to her last breath. The bear came bounding down the embankment. _

_Mastat snapped and growled louder. She lunged, snapping at the bear with her fangs, ripping a part of the ear as she did so. She ran leading the bear away from her pup. The bear followed her roaring in anger. Mastat ran, and ran, keeping away from the fangs and claws of the bear._

_She began to weaken, her body could only do so much. She turned her head, looking behind her. The bear was gone! How did she not notice it, she slowed and paused, her senses extended to their limit. She heard the rushing of a nearby river, she heard the sounds of mice underneath the earth burying themselves closer to each other for heat._

_She waited, she grew scared, what if the bear turned back? She began to move forward. Then she was sideswiped by an enormous mass. She yelped as she was knocked to the earth, she bounced off the ground and began to roll down the embankment for the river._

_She whimpered clawing at the ground for hold, but it was icy and slick. She managed to catch herself on a brittle log. She panted and groaned as her wound stung. The bear came lumbering down the embankment, drooling in hunger. She managed to stand and growl._

_The bear lunged for her, she dodged blow, the bear slid on the ice and growled in surprise. Mastat took her chance she leaped around the bear, ignoring the pain and landed. The bear was turning towards her, its huge claws digging into the ice trying to catch a grip._

_Mastat used all her might and shoved herself into the shoulder of the bear. The bear roared as it began to sink into the icy cold water. It screamed and tore at the bank trying to pull its huge mass up. Mastat snapped and bite at its paws and clawed at its face, making the bear fall back._

_She felt a sense of accomplishment while she did this, that she managed to fight this bear. She paused as she watched the bear sink further. The bear was going under, it would drown and she would be safe to go back to her pup. She turned away, not noticing the massive drenched form rising from the river, the bear was strong, it would not be beaten so easily._

_It flung a paw at the wolf, grabbing it. Mastat shrieked as pain tore through her once more. She was being dragged into the water along with the bear! She scrabbled and clawed at the icy embankment, no! She had to get to her pup! But the ice cold water numbed her body, it went limp, she couldn't command it._

_She tried to fight it, she tried to fight the current and the bear, but she could not, she was drifting...drifting away from her pup, drifting away from the bank, drifting away from conciousness. The last thing she remembered was falling into blackness._

* * *

Mastat stood with her eyes closed, crying from the memory, from the loss. She opened them slowly. "The designs upon my fur help cover the scars the bear left upon me, I floated in that river and it brought me to the valley, somehow I managed to hold to life...until there...I met Fimir, he was a young male wolf then, with dreams of becoming alpha, he saved me...and we soon grew to love each other and we became soul mates after sometime...He and I then became alpha's, we had our litter, but only one survived, our only child Fenrir."

Mastat turned looking to Fenrir. Naruto and Yume were silent still Yume spoke "My adoptive mother, she said...she found me in the hallow of a tree...all alone...they had tried looking for my pack..." Mastat shook her head "we did not have a pack, we were just a pair of fools in love, but we managed to make one good thing in this world...our daughter..alive and safe...I had given you up for death."

Yume began to cry "For so long...I have wondered...why would my mother abandon me...I thought it was because I was ugly, but no..it was because you were trying to protect me" Mastat nodded "yes child...I wanted to save you from the bear...I am so sorry I was not there to raise you, to teach you the way of demons."

Naruto nuzzled Yume "Do not fear, she had learned them well, I found her...well...we found each other, and we learned from each other, she lived a hard life in the pack of wolves, but I...we saved each other from it." Mastat turned to Naruto "I thank you greatly, for saving and protecting...and loving my precious daughter...no longer dead...or lost..but found."

Mastat stepped forward, Yume did as well. They carressed each other's heads, as mother and daughter were reunited once more. Mastat spoke "you remind me so much of him, but your scent reminds me of my home land, on the island I grew up on, then traveled across the wide lake to mainland, there I met your father, on the grass lands."

Yume spoke "Mastat, my mother, I...remember now, your scent, the one of wild flowers and lake water." Mastat nodded "my daughter...come, I wish for you to meet someone." Mastat turned "Your step brother, Fenrir." Fenrir bowed to his new sister.

"I am so happy to meet you, now I am not alone in this world, I have one I can call sibling." Yume embraced Fenrir as well. Mastat turned to Naruto "come my son, you are family now." Naruto nodded and embraced his 'mother-in-law' The two white wolves with blue eyes grinned at each other, "might I add, you have such beautiful markings, I was quite jealous when I saw them myself."

Mastat grinned "it is tradition among us wolves, to decorate ourselves, I was shy around the piercing of ears, but...the dyeing of fur...that I can handle." Naruto grinned Mastat cocked her head "I would say...green would go nicely for you, to match the eyes of my daughter."

Naruto nodded "Maybe later, come now, I wish to show you my territory, and my pack" he added as he turned and looked up at the mountain heads, the leaders of Konoha of present and old. He knew one day, hopefully a wolf head graced that ancient rock face.

Naruto greeted Fenrir once more, this time as a brother instead of a friend. Fenrir and Mastat then met the pups, Mastat was now a great-mother, and Fenrir, an uncle. Naruto scented someone else on the breeze, he turned it was Kakashi, Gaara and Bee.

Gaara and Bee looked differently at him, they were smiling and Gaara...Gaara was crying, why was he? Naruto edged forward "Kazekage-sama, it had been awhile since I have spoken to you, the first and last time I saw you was at the chunin exams"

Gaara shook his head "Naruto stop pretending and get over here" Naruto froze, then he grinned slowly "so the truth is revealed eh?" He said then ran at Gaara he leaped and knocked him over as the two long time friends embraced each other once more.

Naruto lept up and tackled Bee as well. The three of them, who all knew each others pain, the pain of holding a demon inside of them, the pain of dying...and coming back to life...all of them knew how it felt and waht it was like, all of them were from the same cloth, they had a bond few people could ever know, or would want to know.

Naruto rubbed his head against Gaara's hand as Gaara scratched his ears, they got really itchy after awhile! Kakashi cleared his throat "I would hate to break up the reunion, but...we have a war going on, shall we get to business?" Naruto, Gaara and Bee looked at each other then grinned and said "we will, we just got lost on the path of life." Naruto said mimicing Kakashi.

Kakashi sighed "I am supposed to fight a war with these idiots? Kami help me" he said as he waited for the three goof balls to get serious.

* * *

**And...we are back, okay I think I will take a little break, I have like uploaded a chapter once everyday it seems I need to refill my writing juices. So enjoy.**

**NSW**


	76. Demons Song

**Life as A Fox**

**Chapter 75**

**NSW-The Forsaken Author of the Lost Story (see my bio for explanation)**

**Also I have a new story out called 'A Forgiven Father' It is something I have written on the side for a while, and it's chock full of OC's but..you might enjoy it, it's kind of hard to explain...so just check it on your spare time.**

* * *

Kakashi stood, his arms crossed, Bee, Gaara and Naruto stood next to him. Loresin and Arthis stood infront of them along with Fenrir, Imasen, Muhati the leader of the lions. (He represented the whole of his people even though there was several pride leaders.) The dingo scout leader, and the tiger queen also stood. Loresin spoke "We are the infantry and a part of the cavelry of this army, we have traveled far to fight alongside you humans...who respect us demons, Naruto has spoken of you and your leadership prowress...Herd leader Kakashi."

Kakashi nodded "I thank-you, but I am not the only...herd leader here, Gaara of the sand and Bee of the Lightening country stand with me." Loresin and the others bowed to them. "We are many demons, the strongest and fittest and the one's willing to fight have come with us today, most of our elders and mates with young have stayed back at our homeland, we hope to bring great honor to them and to you."

Kakashi bowed "I would not have it any other way" he said. He looked to these proud and majestic creatures, each of them glowing in wisdom and strength. Arthis spoke "We have talked among each other, we have figured out many a battle method, but we would wish to know your plans for the war, we will teach you the calls and motions you must use to speak to us on the battle field, if you would do the same?"

Kakashi nodded "of course, we need to make sure that we can communicate, I was wondering the very same thing, most of our commands are verbal though, just to warn." Arthis nodded "I concluded as much, with us it is different, we speak through body motions, but when we wish to ask something of you, or to warn you to get out-of-the-way of our mighty horns, we will give prior warning" he said grinning.

Kakashi nodded his head in amusment. "I see your point, come, we will show you the battlefield if you wish." Arthis and the leaders nodded and followed Kakashi and them. The other demons laid and rest together, filled with food and drink they all mostly went into a quiet slumber. A calm fell over Konoha.

Yume laid with her mother, speaking and talking, catching up after so long, they spoke and caressed each other for long hours. Waiting for their mate and son to come back.

* * *

Sirya helped one of the young kitchen girls up after she tumbled form tripping on a root. Sirya had integrated back into the enemy army, it was a simple thing. Easy to do now that everyone was confused and distracted by the Lumenion. The creatures were strange and volatile, easy to turn on each other, many a lumenion had been feasted upon those he would call his kin, but with their strange breeding, the numbers replaced themselves easily.

Yet even with these strange creature, faith in the prophet and the cause was strengthened, the men believed themselves invincible, what could Konoha came up with to fight them? An army of demons? Impossible they thought. Sirya could only smile softly to herself, irony at times...was so humorous.

She adjusted the straps on her back as she walked beneath the foliage of the trees, closer and closer they came to Konoha, It would only be a few days now. Her heart beat rapidly, knowing that war was upon them, and yet, even in the dull mundane beating of the marching drums, she found a sense of peace, it was quiet, and the marching of their feet, and the sounds of the carriage and cart ponies and horses was soothing, it seemed like time would never stop for them, that they would march like this for an eternity, and she was okay with it.

The breeze blew softly, the wind warm, the sun was not harsh like it once was, it seemed to caress their faces and necks, giving them warmth and compassion. She did not understand this, the way she felt, her homeland was in danger, those she cared about, and the one she loved still to this day was in danger, although she could not imagine her proud and triumphant mammoth falling, he seemed to powerful...he was a god to her, god's do not fall! God's do not even bleed!

She laughed at such a thought, it was best to push the thought away, she moved ahead, helping anyone she could in turn.

* * *

It was the first day of practice. It seemed strange to call it such, but that was what it was, practice for war, drilling into their bodies again and again, so that even if the brain was scattered and traumatized, the body would remember what to do and when to do it. The high-pitched wail of the loudest wolf pierced the sky.

On instinct the first line of the infantry stalked forward, they lined up in single file lines, spanning the entire width of the main wall. 300 yards of an alternating line. They were lined up accordingly. Usually a group of three wolves, next to a lion or a lion and tiger pair, then five deer and elk, then it began again, random spots were replaced with either a coyote, or dingo, or even the few hyena demons.

Behind the first line was an entire line of Elk, then following them an entire line of ninja, behind the ninja were the deer and remaining demons with no place. There were a few small special force groups. Naruto and Fenrir lead a group called the 'Wolf brigade' twenty of the best and brightest wolves, who were compatible in strength and speed.

Arkill led another group of elk, antelope, moose, and even a few reindeer demons. They practiced from sun up to sun down, drilling and drilling then resting at mid-day, then drilling once more. Engraving it in their skulls what to do. While this was going on, many a hammer was pounding away as leather armor was being fitted on most of the army.

The wolves and even a few of the other demons had their own armor sets, wolves wore the skulls of their ancestors and attached the fangs of them to their claws, Naruto did the same only he used metal. Most deer and hoofed demons had a padded chest piece and guard protecting their precious leg tendons. After a long day of doing various drills, they believed themselves ready, all confusion was wiped out, however they would practice as much as they could.

Later that night demons and ninja on the front lines stood around campfires, in large groups they spoke and talked about home life. They bonded together and formed precious trust and loyalties to each other. But understanding and learning about each other the demons were more willing to serve the humans, while the humans were more willing to fight to save the lives of these precious creatures, who have been scorned and hated for far too long.

Naruto, Fenrir, Kiba, Shikamaru and the rest of the wolf brigade rested around a fire. It was not cold, but the small warmth and light it added did help soothe them greatly, comforting them in the dark hours, the times when most fears and worries begin to manifest in one's soul. Naruto turned to Shikamaru "What do you think Shikamaru? You are the smartest on here, what are our odds?"

Shikamaru shrugged "I don't know, we don't know much about these new enemies, or these weapons, but they sound like bad news." Naruto nodded "yes...I know, but with hope and faith, I like to think we can pull through." Fenrir spoke "There is, a song that we demons would sing, in times of old, whenever we were together, we would sing because we were happy we were together, happy that we were alive."

Fenrir was silent, Naruto studied him as his pale blue eyes reflected the firelight. Then Fenrir began to sing, softly, at first, but it took hold of you and instilled you with...strength, so much strength.

"Listen child, don't you fear"

"You are safe, we are here"

"We're together, through the night"

"Blinding out evil's might"

Suddenly a yipping rose up from the hyena's and coyotes. The horses began to stomp in a beat, in fact everyone was.

"Demons live, demons song"

"through it we prolong"

"Dig deep, find yourselves"

"More and more soon will tell"

Then a loud voice shrieked overhead as one of the birds joined into the song, speeding it up and singing out in a stacatto voice.

"They will speak of fierceness!"

"The creatures of vast strength!"

"They will speak of fliers! With screaming wings we soar!"

Then three coyotes came keening in.

"They will wail of cunning"

"As we slip deep through the night"

"Our hearts shut out and fangs bared tight

"they will scream of demons might"

Then Imasen rose up

"They will sing of thunder"

"Rolling through the hills"

"They will speak of greatness"

So great it sends chills"

All around they sang, growing stronger and stronger.

"Demons might! Demons light!"

"The fear of us is justly right!"

"We are greatness we are strong!"

"Our voices join in song..."

But then Naruto joined in slowing the beat down, suspending them with his voice.

"But they will hear of courage"

"Our hearts that beat as one"

"They will see our wisdom,

shining brighter than the sun"

"They will see our loyalty,

and love for everyone"

"For we demons are more than strong,

we are also...one"

The demons song went up in crescendo, then with one last great big beat all the demons stopped moving and were silent.

All the humans looked to the demons, awed and confused. Naruto grinned to them "Sorry, we demons like to sing a lot." Then with that everyone broke out in laughter.

* * *

**Well, there you have it. **

**NSW**


	77. This Is It

**Life as A Fox**

**Chapter 76**

**NSW-The Forsaken Author of the Lost Story (see my bio for explanation)**

**Also I have a new story out called 'A Forgiven Father' It is something I have written on the side for a while, and it's chock full of OC's but..you might enjoy it, it's kind of hard to explain...so just check it on your spare time.**

* * *

Silence, heavy, gripping, swallowing them for a long span of time. Stillness, edging and grating, keening with a grotesque momentum. The two masses stared off at each other. Both armies faced each other. Naruto studied these creatures, these Lumenion, he felt a shudder go up his spine, these things...they were not natural, they were not normal, something about him put him on edge, made him fearful of them.

He was not the only one, all demons felt the presence, the fear, an unnatural unexplainable fear, tremors and fidgeting violently hitting them in random moments. Naruto shook himself he had to get his mind straight had to! He turned to Kakashi, who stood next to him. "You're okay Naruto, I don't know what it is Naruto, but you all seem to sense something."

Naruto nodded another shiver down his spine "those...creatures, they set us all on edge, their very presence compels us." Kakashi nodded "I see, well have faith, be strong, you demons are not alone, remember your kids Naruto, they need you." Naruto nodded, strength filled his limbs for now. He looked back down, his eyes spanning across the pale earth, the rubble and ruins that splayed out in front of him that stood for a battlefield.

The sun beat down, but no warmth was cast. The wind blew sharply but none felt it upon them. No the thing they felt was the sharp sounds of a person shuffling his feet, someone coughed, a single bird cawed randomly. Naruto looked back the air units covered the buildings and whatever span of a perch they could find.

All of them ready, all of them adamant. Naruto glanced down to the trench. All the demons hidden and safe, kept secret until the last second. Kakashi studied the scene before him "war Naruto, is a terrible thing, but also something that is needed from time to time, when something is worth fighting for...it damned well better be worth dying for, is your freedom worth it?"

Naruto turned to Kakashi, "If I die, I do not die for my own freedom, I die and fight for the freedom of others...always have... always will." Kakashi nodded "good then" Kakashi turned to his men, turned to his army, he was the hokage, their leader, the one the trusted most. "We have waited and prepared for this moment a long time, but the world itself has been yearning for this moment even longer, it is time, to take a last stand, we will tell everyone in this land, we will tell everyone in this world..no, we will tell the very heavens themselves!" He paused building momentum. "That demons are good and just! That we humans will stand by our friends and companions! That we will sacrifice our sweat, blood, and very lives to prove, that once and for all, that no matter what hellish creatures the gods throw at us!"

Kakashi paused looking into the instilled eyes of all around him, he looked to Naruto who in this rare moment looked up to him like he once did, back when he was a genin and Kakashi...his teacher. His eyes captivated and shining as he absorbed the wisdom that Kakashi had to give. "No matter what they do to us! We will stand together and fight! Our inner fire's will burn brighter and hotter and scorch anything that they throw at us! Now let us show them our weapons, show them our courage! Show them our fangs, claws, talons and horns and show them just what they are facing against! They are not fighting an army of humans and demons, they are fighting an army of Konoha!"

A roar went up among all the men, Naruto wanted to join in, but the element of surprise was a must. Kakashi waited for the roar to descend "It is an honor to fight alongside all of you brave souls, now all of you! To your positions!" Naruto leaped down and ran for the built tunnels to the trench, efficiently and without confusion everyone made it to their positions, Naruto took his place beside Fenrir, armored and ready they waited once more, this time in impatience, they longed to hear the command to go.

* * *

Shinjin studied the fortress that was Konoha, a mighty and pristine place, it would be fitting and perfect for a tribute to their god. He turned to his generals. Then to Suki, her boy cowered at her legs. "What is wrong with the child?" he asked. The child was distressed it was easy to see, his hands clapped tightly over his ears.

Suki glanced to him "nothing, he is just afraid is all, too much going on, don't worry sweetie" the women said bending down. "You can go back to the tent and stay there, all your toys are ready and waiting for you, wouldn't you like that? Along with all the sweets you want?" The boy nodded eagerly his distress ignored and forgotten.

Shinjin tisked the boy was growing up in an unhealthy way, he would become a pampered prideful being, a sinner in his god's eyes. Suki turned to the line of servants "you there, old women take him to the tent." A women stepped forward, she was not that old, fifty maybe, and she still had a elegant beauty to her, she seemed familiar in a way, but he pressed it from mind, she was probably a long time servant that he had only just seen on occasion.

The women walked over and led the child kindly away. Shinjin turned to the generals again. "I see movement on the enemy lines, prepare the army, they know who they fight for and why." Shinjin turned back, it was time.

* * *

Once more there was a silence as the two ready armies faced off. The army of the twelfth god lined up, Men first, Lumenion behind them. Naruto turned to Neji in the trench "Neji...I...I have faith in you okay? Someday I will free the whole of your clan from that seal." Neji nodded "I know Naruto, I know, but...I am prepared Naruto, besides, this is Neji you are talking to, nothing can break through my defense."

Naruto nodded, he still couldn't help worrying, he worried for all his friends and comrades, they were lucky in the first war, few of them died, but now...now they were the jounin and main fighters, they were the ones making names for themselves, they were going to be the ones who would teach the next line of ninja, they only first had to survive this war.

The signal went through the enemy army, they moved together as one, the earth vibrated from the mass of them moving. Naruto closed his eyes, this was it. Neji and the ninja in the trench rose and stood as one, a command fell down upon them but the did not need it, they all glanced to the man or women next to them and nodded, some...some would not make it, this would be the last time they would run towards an enemy, the last time they shared something with a comrade.

They all knew this, but they also knew it was a risk all of them took, and that each and every one of them would fight to try to make sure they lost none, even though it was something that would be impossible. Neji rose up, walking away from Naruto, Naruto turned and looked away, he couldn't bear to watch his friend walk into that danger alone, but he had to, he had to.

Naruto and some others quickly and quietly sneaked up and spied as the enemies began to move towards each other. First they walked, then, a choppy jog, that soon built into a dead on run, both armies screamed as they drew closer and closer to each other, but then it happened. The switch instead of humans fighting humans, the enemy nin ducked down and the lumenion leaped over them, their bony limbs and long jaws open at the ready for the soft pink flesh of humans.

Naruto had to be pulled down by three wolves to keep him from going out, Fenrir ended up sitting on him. Their was a sickening cry as the lumenions' growls and jaws met the konoha nin. The beasts tore into the feeble flesh easily, going for the face and whatever was open, few could react fast enough, there was no time to take a step back and do a jutsu, all of them were being attacked, all of them were fighting for their own lives.

A cry went up as the air units rushed to the rescue, dive bombing in they sliced and attacked the Lumenion. The lumenion turned to the demons, their nature kicked in, their true enemy was the demons, humans were ignored. This gave ample time for the Konoha line to assemble once more, only to be hit by the enemy line once more, but the konoha nin were angry,pissed, they couldn't believe the cowerdice of the enemy nin, the two armies hacked at each other.

The enemy had an upper hand at the moment, numbers, surprise and a weakened foe. But the Konoha nin had better training, and well...they were pissed off, what more need be said, sometimes a good old thirst for revenge was what shifted the tide of battle.

* * *

A howl went up from Konoha, it was time to bolster the main line, push the enemy back. Naruto eagerly accepted this, Fenrir and the others spanned out and the wolf brigade led the demons line charge.

It was surreal, the enemy nin were not expecting it, they had no idea...the demons...there was hundreds of them! Thundering towards them, heads shaking massive antlers, or tossing wild manes, canine and felines in all shapes and sizes snapping and growling, roaring as their claws dug into the earth. The enemy nin backed up, fear hitting them.

But the Lumenion ran forward, ignoring Konoha nin they ran towards the demons, but their line was weak and full of holes they had no order they were following basic instincts. But even during that wild charge, when Naruto glanced to either side of them, the world seemed to move in slow motion, noise seemed to lessen and lessen until nothing was heard a calm descended across him, he closed his eyes, listening to the thudding of his heart in excitement like a drum.

He breathed in and out, tasting blood and leaves on the breeze, this was it, the battle was finally here. He let his breath out as his legs reached forward and dug into the warm earth, claws digging in as he matched stride for stride with every other demon. He could feel the beat of the charge, the beating of the their hooves, and the beat within each others hearts, this was it, he opened his eyes.

* * *

**'O the wild charge they made!  
All the world wondered'**

**Sorry I love Alfred Lord Tennyson, and cliff-hangers.**

**Enjoy :3**

**NSW**


	78. The First Day

**Life as A Fox**

**Chapter 77**

**NSW-The Forsaken Author of the Lost Story (see my bio for explanation)**

**Also I have a new story out called 'A Forgiven Father' It is something I have written on the side for a while, and it's chock full of OC's but..you might enjoy it, it's kind of hard to explain...so just check it on your spare time.**

* * *

The two lines of creatures collided with a crash. They were destined to fight each other, one of them was created specifically to fight the other. So the fighting was violent and gripping. Blood curdling screams came out from all who did not protect themselves from the others. Naruto slayed three of them in quick succession. These creatures were huge and magnifying.

Naruto grunted as one over took him. Naruto shuddered their blood tasted strange on his tongue, unnatural and gross. He tried to spit it out, but the taste yet lingered. He shook himself and attacked ignoring the taste he dug his fangs deep into the flesh and fur of the one on top of him. Dragging it into the earth and tearing into it, making sure that it was dead.

When the creature stilled he turned and helped a fellow elk demon who was being swamped by three of them, the elk was going strong but was being wore down by the weight. Naruto helped relieve it. He dragged the one nearest to the elks neck off and quickly got its jugular between his fangs. He bit with a satisfying crunch.

He turned to barf, more Lumenion blood, bitter and thick had made its way down his throat making his very insides coil at its presence. He shook himself what the hell was going on? He noticed that he was not the only one being affected by the blood. All the other demons who fought with fangs were wither retching or salivating and spitting up the strange blood.

Naruto shook himself, luckily the horned and hoofed demons stood in and fought with extra vigor as their fanged friends gathered themselves. But horns and hooves did little against the exotic beautiful blades the enemy ninja had. With a strangled cry Naruto watched as an elk reared up, his death cry screaming into the heavens as his skin slowly changed, transforming grotesquely into blackened dying flesh.

Naruto cursed he gathered himself and ran, forming a chakra shield he stopped another demon from the same fate. He killed the ninja who had almost stabbed a young lionness. She thanked him and rose up and attacked three Lumenion taking them on like it was nothing. "Claws not fangs when against them" he warned her.

She did not need the warning, she knew. All of them had learned already that the Lumenions' blood was a poison that sickened and weakened them. The enemy nin had weapons that harmed them even worse. Although he did note that being nicked by the blades did not kill you, nor effect the skin to turn black. But use of chakra in that limb was severely limited.

Naruto growled. He glanced up overhead as all the flying creatures joined in battle. The air units at the moment had a noticeable victory over the flying lumenion. Their agileness and numbers overtook them and seized the day for them. Naruto and his team re-grouped, they lost only two of their numbers. Naruto was saddened for them and for Fenrir, who had soul bonds with his pack-mates.

Naruto gave him strength and moved out. They gave support and helped any they could. Moving down the line that held and pushed back against the invading foe. Naruto looked over into enemy lines, here and there many a powerful ninja was broken up in their own private battles. Permitting none to enter or intervene. He saw Neji, his heart sighed in relief he was sweaty and dirty, his clothes ripped, but he was alive and well holding off five enemies.

Naruto turned back and saved another young lion from the accursed weapons. They were special and easily identifiable, longer and thinner then Kuani, they looked like a short blade or longer dagger. They gleamed in the light. Naruto and all other demons soon knew to hold this weapon with regard and trepidation.

They waged war for hours, one army would gave away ground, the other would advance, back and forth they went, each one exhausting and using every one they could. But in the close end, Konoha had more numbers and more reserve troops. So quietly as the sun was beginning to set. There was a call from the enemy nin, a retreat.

Konoha let them, they had no energy to give chase. Each side was run ragged and tired. Konoha even permitted them to collect their dead. A massive group of servants, marked and dressed in white did so, they carried no weapons. Side by side they waded through the muck and grime of battlefield and found those of their army that had perished they did this next to konoha nin and helpers who also were weaponless.

* * *

Naruto helped all who were injured back to safety. He turned his head and looked over the battlefield, the last dying rays of the sun lingered and held light enough to see. Bodies littered the earth everywhere, he could not discern accurately, but all-in-all about 200 hundred had perished the first day, casualties taken on both sides.

He glanced to the forest, to the hills and trees that made up his homeland, he closed his eyes taking in the breeze, he even after everything he had smelled today, all the blood and smoke that lingered in the air, everything that there was, he still smelled the entrancing scents of the forest. He sighed and sent a prayer up, hoping all souls lost, even the wretched souls of the Lumenion were guided safely to some place of peace, no one on this planet deserved an afterlife with no peace.

Naruto turned away from the bloodshed, he had enough of it. He turned away from the noise of mothers wailing over lost son's and daughters, of men groaning and crying in pain. Demons screeching and roaring in agony of losing mates, children, family, all felt a loss today, none very close to Naruto, demons he had met in passing, demons he just met, he lamented none the less for them though, but he continued on.

Those who had been in battle staggered like zombies, lost in their thoughts and memories, unsure of what to do, or what to think or say. Fighting in a one on one battle was easy to handle, but war...the constant fighting of one person and the next, chopping down all you saw in your way like blades of grass...that was not fighting, not even battle, it felt more like slaughter, it made a person question their sanity and if they were in the right, if they were worthy of love and forgiveness after what they did.

Naruto rested, the wounds he did not feel on battle stinging and raging as a few human medics came round to the demons. Naruto cursed Gomeg and his half of the army should be here by now! He groaned as they stitched a cut up. He heard a familiar whimper, he turned to see Yume. She came up to him, she need not say anything, she could tell how he felt, she could tell how much he needed her to be near at the moment.

She curled up beside him, her warmth and presence gliding over him, making him feel safe. Bursts of memories would hit him, things he had done, and saw. He viewed many a things for the first time. On the field a person would see things, but it would not process in their mind until after the rush, after the danger was gone, the time when the battle hurt the most was always after, after when all realized what they had done,saw, and when all finally felt the wounds they had received.

Naruto remembered, he remembered horns impaling humans, running all the way through them, then they were, thrown tossed aside. They hit the earth in bloody mutilated sacs. He remembered seeing a pack of coyotes over taking another human, biting and ripping the flesh off, while the man screamed in agony, he was still alive.

Horrible things flashed before his eyes, gripping him and dragging him down into cold murky depths. But Yume saved him, she pulled him up from that dark place, her eyes, held no judgement, her voice whispered into his ears words of praises and love. He collapsed into her, all his strength gone, he could only rest against her and take what strength and courage that lay inside her.

He shivered against her as he fell into a fitful sleep, weeping,sobbing, crying, mourning, ululating whatever other word one could think of expressing his emotion. All these he did until his body shut-down from exhaustion But the thing that scared Naruto the most, the thing that woke him with a start in the middle of the night was this...that this was only the first day.

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**I am sorry if I was not descriptive enough in the battle scenes I will do more P.O.V later on.**

**NSW**


	79. Demons Fate

**Life as A Fox**

**Chapter 78**

**NSW-The Forsaken Author of the Lost Story (see my bio for explanation)**

**Also I have a new story out called 'A Forgiven Father' It is something I have written on the side for a while, and it's chock full of OC's but..you might enjoy it, it's kind of hard to explain...so just check it on your spare time.**

* * *

Naruto awoke groggily the next morning, his body sore and ached from the previous day, be he pushed himself up to his sore paws then walked stiffly around the camp. Warming and loosening up his stiff and sore muscles. It was a bit cooler today it seemed, he flickered his eyes up to the sky. It was pale and cloudy today, no sun shone down upon them, maybe because it didn't want to see any more blood shed either.

He shook himself and freed his bones from the cold that had seeped there. He saw that others around camp were getting up stumbling around. Weary medic's did morning rounds, they had not received adequate break time or rest. Naruto felt sorry for them and hoped their energy could last. He walked up to the battlements. Gaara and Kakashi stood there already both of them were tired as well.

Naruto spoke "How was it last night?" "Silent, not a sound from the enemy camp, they made no move last night." Naruto nodded good, at least most of the men got rest, in some way. He turned back to the now awaking camp "How is our numbers?" he asked them. "Many from the first charge are wounded or shaken, but they still stand to fight."

Naruto nodded good, that was very good. He glanced out over to the enemy camp, it was just beyond his train of sight, but he managed to see some blurred forms moving about. Naruto saw men walking to and from traveling tents, he even saw forms of Lumenion stalking about and moving in their ungainly ways. He noted though, that larger shapes moved about, tall, gaunt creatures, that seemed to have branches upon their heads..was he seeing things?

He growled and bared his teeth slightly "What is it?" Kakashi asked "Something is not right, there is something else to worry about" Kakashi glanced to him "What is it?" "I have no idea" Naruto said flatly.

* * *

They lined up once more in their rows, they no longer hid but instead stood shoulder to shoulder next to their human comrades. Some had bandages and wounds from yesterdays battle but they still stood strong and resolute in their positions. Naruto turned his armored head down the line, every demon stood eyes forward, they stared down the enemies before them.

Their eyes held a certain calm, they knew now what they were heading into, they knew know what expect, already their minds and hearts hardened to prepare themselves for the things to come. Some already were building an immunity to the previous days excursions, some already began to want for the blood, they were beginning to love the thrill of battle.

Naruto was not among them, not yet anyway, he knew that after a while, while in the thick of it, he would lose his head, he would give in to the predator, the animal within him, release the beast of battle out on the field, try as he might he would not be able to stop the storm that grew within him at times. He could only release it and hope that it would blow itself out, and he could reclaim himself once more.

The sun was behind them, just starting to rise. The call went out, they would take the advantage. Naruto moved out, with his group, they stalked forward, wordlessly the spanned out into a 'V' formation, Fenrir at his shoulder. Naruto managed to glance down the line aways and saw the Inuzaka branch of the army. Kiba stalked next to Akamaru, it would be their first day on the field.

He hoped no harm would come to Kiba, the man was important in a lot of ways to a lot of people, he had no idea what he would to do console Hinata if they lost Kiba. He shook the thought from mind, it would never happen, he was too stubborn to die. Naruto turned his head and looked down the line he saw someone familiar, Sasuke.

He walked in-between two tigers. Sasuke actually blended in with them, the way he moved his body in a graceful deadliness. Naruto still felt angry at Sasuke but at the moment, he had bigger things to worry about. Naruto heard the second call, it was time to speed up. At a brisk trot they moved, then they broke out into a full on canter, the horses behind them spurring them on.

They moved in a wedge formation against the enemy, their lines thinned to provide concentration in center of the enemy lines, in hopes to crash through and utterly decimate them. They were in full charge, their hearts and feet thundering together in a symphony. When once again the enemy played a trick on them.

The men parted and a wall of white formed, they looked like deer, but much...much taller, they were wide, but only in the haunches. Two tall wide antlers that spanned like tree branches formed on their heavy-set heads. Their faces were long like horses, but ended in an elk looking jaw, but two sharp incisors gleamed from their top jaws.

Their eyes, which had the same oblong pupils as horses glared at them, then one rose on his back withers and let out a long low call. It rose up like an elk but it sounded more like the deep brutal growl of a bear.

The army was headed straight for them, the momentum to much to turn or to slow down. Naruto bared his teeth, there would be fighting to come, lots of it if he wanted to get out alive. The tall creatures moved out, heads down antlers reaching out for them like gnarled hands. Naruto was shoved aside as all the elk and horned demons put themselves in front of the main line, protecting them.

Naruto knew it would be bad, those creatures looked strong, but he had faith. But even his faith could not stop him from yelling out the name of the elk that rose in front of him "Arkill!" he yelled, but his voice was swept away. He could only watch as the two antlered enemies met. There was a crash, a literal one, The elk met their enemies, some elks antlers broke or cracked beneath the strain and force of the blow.

They bodies were halted instantly, Naruto and the rest of the army who were trying to slow down ended up crashing into their flanks, however this was actually a good thing, the force of them hitting the back of the elks pushed the elk forward, this caused the enemy Lumenion to slide backwards, their heads being pushed down into the earth.

Naruto righted himself and took the chance he had, he dived inbetween the vicious spokes of antlers and leaped onto the back of one of the enemy, he buried his fangs into the shoulders, digging for the place where the spine met with them. The Lumenion could only buck and leap back and forth sideways as he tried to release his antlers.

Naruto ripped and tore faster, remembering not to swallow blood. He was not the only one though to take advantage of this, many followed his lead and attacked while they had the chance. Naruto heard whizzing above his head, it was the sounds of Kunai and shuriken being thrown by the ninja's of either side, they would soon be in the mix.

Naruto dug deeper, Fenrir who had a cut on his leg joined him and helped bring him down. Naruto and Fenrir nodded to each other and they separated, each going about to help whoever the could. The battle was thicker and more violent than before. Dust rose up and swirled in the air, Naruto choked on it and the blood.

He could barely see anything clearly, all he saw was an ocean of colors, mostly white, because of the Lumenion or many other shades of the demons pelts. Naruto moved in and out, he received a nick here or a cut there, sometime he almost got crushed by the hooves of his fellow demons, another time he got knocked over and buried in a pile of fighting wolves and Lumenion.

He broke through that pile, fighting with all his strength. He gave his comrades only a nod before they moved onto the others. Naruto went down the line, he managed to fight off the Lumenion who were trying to bring down a deer. Three against one the odds did not look good. Naruto rushed in, and fought, biting and tearing in, but even after everything, he could save the fellow demon.

He died, his throat ripped open, he looked to Naruto "Thank-you my brother...but the...afterlife...calls" Naruto bowed his head he stood surrounded by the bodies of the fallen, Lumenion blood, human blood and demons blood saturated the ground. Naruto stood, his sense completely over come, he couldn't think of what to do next, to him it seemed all too much, the enemies seemed to never cease, and it seemed as though less and less of them stood to fight.

He heard howls as an Inuzaka and his companion formed together to create their greatest jutsu, 'human beast combination transformation-double headed wolf' But he knew it wasn't Kiba do to the fact that his transformation was a tan color. This however did help push the tide of enemies back some. Naruto turned his head when he heard the sound of two tigers, roaring and spitting as the fought back to back with a single ninja, Naruto couldn't see who but he had to help them, they were surrounded by twenty or so Lumenion, and the tigers were bleeding already from several wounds.

Naruto made several clones then rushed in. He hit the unaware Lumenion, knocking several aside, they turned to him and attacked. Naruto attacked back with even more ferocity. He was tired of this! he was tired of this battle and tired of these Lumenion! He hated them with a passion! Why won't they just die! He roared and snapped the neck of the one he was fighting, his clones in turn ripped and slashed at the others, by sheer ferocity Naruto pushed them back.

The Lumenion actually fell back, they feared this wolf that fought like many, they were no match for him, he was the strongest demon they had ever met. They retreated. Naruto stood panting, his anger and his strength gone for the moment.

He turned though when he heard the sound of a tiger whimpering in pain. Naruto looked to see an interesting sight. One he did not think to see. Uchiha Sasuke trying to staunch the blood of a demon in pain. Naruto trotted over, he glanced to Sasuke. Sasuke looked to him, several emotions filtered through him, pain for what had been done to him so long ago, but then again, a new though came to Naruto.

If Sasuke hadn't done what he had, Naruto would not have gotten to receive the life he had lived, he would not have met Yume or had the chance to love her or experience the love she had. He would not have three beautiful pups waiting for him, he would not have met Gomeg, or would have changed os many people's views on demons, he would not have gotten to done a lot of things, and all of it, in a way, was thanks to Sasuke.

It was there at that moment, in the thick of battle, in thick of loss, did Naruto finally forgive Sasuke. That was when a calm fell over Naruto, he turned "Do not worry my brother, we will get you to safety." The tiger nodded weakly. Naruto turned to the other "Can you carry him on your back?" The other tiger nodded "of course, he is my brother!"

Naruto nodded "Sasuke help me drag him onto his back" Sasuke nodded "easy he's in a lot of pain" Sasuke added. Naruto nodded "I know, but we have to do it quickly before we are attacked." Sasuke nodded. Together they helped push the tiger unto his brothers back. "Do you need escort to the medics?" Naruto asked, the tiger shook his head "no, I will get my brother there safely, you can count on it."

Naruto nodded and watched as the tiger scurried off, his brothers lie on his shoulders. Naruto had a flashback to a time when young Gin was on his back, how he ran while her life blood flowed from her. He shook himself from the thought. He turned to Sasuke. "How do you fare oh great Uchiha?" Sasuke looked to him sadly "could we not fight at the moment, we have bigger things to worry about then the past."

Naruto was silent "I know...I wanted to say that...maybe...maybe I was a little...harsh on you, I mean I usually am not one for carrying grudges...but you can well imagine." Sasuke nodded "yeah I know, I killed you, and I regret it now like I regret it back then, and nothing I can do will make up for it, but I am willing to try."

Naruto nodded "I know, I know, but you are doing good, which is what I always wanted from you, I always wanted you to realize that the path you walked was not a right one, I guess...I was just blinded by my emotions to see you truly have changed, you are...okay Sasuke, but like you said, we have bigger things to worry about."

Sasuke turned his sword flashing as he stabbed a leaping Lumenion through the chest. He turned back to Naruto, a small smile on his face. "That's one down" he said. Naruto growled, he liked the challenge. He turned and together, side by side, he and Sasuke fought together, they helped each other and looked out for each other, Naruto for a moment was almost transported back in time, back to a time when they were just genin on a team, working together for the same thing.

He was happy, it was how it was supposed to be. They together, carved a path into the enemy line, Naruto brought down Lumenion while Sasuke handled the ninja who dared to meet him in battle. There was a lull where they were at so they took the chance to rest. Both saw to cuts and wounds that they just noticed they had.

Naruto grimaced at the bite mark on his back leg, he turned to lick it. Sasuke spoke "do you need me to wrap it?" Naruto nodded "please" he said. Sasuke grabbed some bandages from his pocket and began to wrap it quickly. There was a silence between them. "Where did you get this scar?" Sasuke asked motioning to the one he received on that fateful mission where he lost his students.

He sighed "it's a long...sad story, let's just say that I like Kakashi lost my students and my team, however, I do not have the choice of getting them back" Sasuke was silent "I'm..sorry, for your loss, it must have been hard." Naruto nodded "the heavies blow I received in my life, it crippled me, I can tell you that, but I pulled through it, it took awhile..and a lot of convincing from other parties, but I managed."

Sasuke nodded he finished bandaging he grunted as he looked to his side, he had a cut there, wide but not too deep. Naruto spoke "bandage yourself, I will take watch" Sasuke nodded and began to do so, Naruto stood in front of him watching for attacks or enemies. "I guess you and me both were both in the same boat, both of us was slowly drowning, but we were dead set in accepting our fates, but for some reason, people saw fit to save us, they saw something inside us that was good."

Naruto nodded Sasuke spoke truthfully. "Yes, it was..something like that." There was another silence. Sasuke spoke up after a bit "You know, if we make it through this war and stuff, I would like for you to come and meet my family." Naruto nodded "Same here."

Sasuke nodded and turned "Okay, let's get through this then." Naruto grinned "What's the matter? Are you scared?" Naruto said and ran off towards distant fighting. Sasuke fell in place beside him. "It's been a long time since the forest of death, I think we both know that...right...Fluffy."

Naruto growled "When this war is over I am going to hurt you." Sasuke laughed and pushed ahead. Naruto growled and sped up, the Uchiha would not beat him. They both were back to their old ways, they were now friendly rivals, trying to out compete the other, while still watching out for each other.

* * *

Naruto put up his shield as another jutsu hit him. Sasuke protected himself as well. He groaned and activated his sharingan, this was the first time Naruto saw him do this. "These guys are insane" Naruto commented. Sasuke nodded, his normal sharingan spinning, he could if he wanted to activate his mengekyou, but he did not want to harm his eye-sight anymore then necessary.

Naruto made several clones and charged the two ninja who gave them problems, they were strong, they had killed already maybe a squadron of ninja by themselves. Naruto tried to get in close, but they were insanely fast and Naruto could not get a handle on them.

He grunted as one appeared from nowhere and blind side punched him. It was times at this he wished he took after his fathers blood-trait the yellow flash, but he never could get access to such power unless he was in sage mode, and that was a long forgotten ability unto itself as well.

He gritted his teeth, he had always meant to go back and relearn that, but he always was side-tracked. He thudded into the earth. He groaned as he staggered up, his wounded leg starting to give out from beneath him. Sasuke leaped in front of him and protected Naruto from another blow.

With his sharingan Sasuke could now read and follow the two enemies, Naruto had to give in and let Sasuke take control of the fight, Naruto could not do much. If only he wasn't so wore out and weakened from the fight, along with all the poisonous blood that managed to trickle down his throat, even though he tried to evade it.

The blood weakens demons power, so the more you fought, the more you killed, the weaker you became, which is why the battle was shifting once more, only against them, there just wasn't a lot they could do. The Lumenion were like weeds they grew and became stronger it seemed only in a course of a few hours.

Naruto was snapped from his thoughts as two bodies thudded to the ground in bloody sheets. Sasuke stood over them, his sword crimson and his body and clothes covered in red. Both of them were dirty from head to toe, both of them weary but they pressed on.

Naruto staggered up he felt useless, but Sasuke said nothing he only nodded to Naruto then they jogged slowly to the next section of fighting. Naruto ran for a bit, he glanced to the sun that finally showed itself. It was almost three by the looks of it, they had fought for hours, both sides would probably take a break soon enough, he hoped.

But then Naruto caught eye of something that made his blood go cold, and he forgot his entire world all together, the one-eyed man, the one who had killed and taken his students from him. He growled ruthlessly. Sasuke shied away he had never heard a growl like that before, the look on Naruto's face was of absolute hatred.

His eyes had gone blank and feral, Sasuke wondered for a bit, was that the way his eyes once were? Was that the way he viewed the world and saw it for the longest time? Empty and void of compassion and feeling? He shuddered he was glad he came to see the error in his ways, glad to know that he saved himself from such a life.

He spoke "Naruto? What's wrong?" he asked fearing the answer. "It's him" Naruto spat coldly, stalking forward, he could feel Naruto's chakra levels rise as he called on his last bit of strength, he could feel the killer intent and blood lust crackle through the air.

"Naruto, who? What are you talking about! You can't go into all those enemies! It's suicide!" Naruto snapped to him "I will not let him escape a second time! He will perish for what he did to my students! For what he took from me! I swore to kill him and avenge their wrongful deaths!"

A cold fear trickled through Sasuke's spine, their roles had been reversed, it was now Sasuke who was standing stuck, trapped as water poured in around him, submerging him and dragging him down to icy depths as he watched his friend turn and walk down a path of shadows and darkness. He knew what Naruto had felt all those years.

He knew the pain that he had caused, and what his actions and words could do. He know knew that words could stab and jar just as bad a knife blade. He spoke pleading "Don't! Naruto please! Don't go in there! Don't go for revenge! I know what it is like to go for blood! Don't do this! You will only regret it!"

Naruto turned and snapped to him "That didn't stop you now did it!? Don't tell what to do Tenge! You are in no position to speak to me about these things!" Then Naruto ran into the battle, where it was still at its thickest, all around Naruto men and demons fell but still Sasuke could see his figure.

Bloodied, dirt covered and ragged dodging and slipping through all that was in his path, he did not turn to help any, he was on his own agenda. Sasuke swore "Shit!" he said as he ran after Naruto "Shit, shit, shit shit!" he yelled over and over as he sliced and diced his way through, following Naruto and hoping with every fiber of his being he could make it to him in time.

* * *

Naruto leaped and ripped through the jugular of the hoofed Lumenion, it fell screeching from a bloodied and torn wind-pipe, blood splattering about, he stalked past the dying creature without a second glance. He growled as his life long enemy turned to see him.

The man grinned "Well well well, if it isn't the white demon of Konoha, not so white now? No, your fur is stained with the blood of humans and demons you lead into this slaughter, you should have died and saved them all from having to."

Naruto growled "The only deaths I care about are those of my students you murderer!" Naruto leaped, anger clouding his thoughts. The man shook his head, and with a flick of his wrists Naruto was chained and captured, kneeling before the feet of his enemy.

The man grinned, "So Suki did not lie, she had promised me that by the end of the war, you would be kneeling here before me, it looks like she was correct..." Then the man reached into his vest and pulled out the accursed demonsbane blade.

Naruto tried to struggle but it was too late, he was captured, every move made the thorns dig deeper into him, they pulled and tore his flesh easily. He for the first time felt the cold chill of death on his neck once more. He whimpered, no! He could not die again! If he did he would be lost forever! Cursed to wander the land as a ghost! He had his family! His mate! His dream!

But all of them would not be his worries no more, because he looked, only to see the stroke of a shining blade coming down upon him. It was as if the gods themselves were guiding that deadly, but beautiful blade to end the flickering candle that was his life.

* * *

**NSW**


	80. Equal

**Life as A Fox**

**Chapter 79**

**NSW-The Forsaken Author of the Lost Story (see my bio for explanation)**

**Also I have a new story out called 'A Forgiven Father' It is something I have written on the side for a while, and it's chock full of OC's but..you might enjoy it, it's kind of hard to explain...so just check it on your spare time.**

* * *

The blade arched down, Naruto closed his eyes. Knowing his death was imminent, He cursed himself, he was foolish, oh so foolish to let blind rage over come him to control him. How could he have been captured so easy? How could he have let them get to him like that? Because he was blinded by emotions, that was the answer, it seems stupid, it seems so cliché, but that was the truth, you never think clearly when you have emotion behind you, you never are yourself when you are almost bursting at the seams with it.

The blade landed, Naruto braced for the pain, surprisingly there was little.

* * *

Sasuke broke through the line of enemies, roaring the word "Naruto!" at the top of his lungs. He was chained and strapped, captured and laying before a man with one eye. Sasuke saw the blade arch down. He had to act, he had to make it in time, he had to save Naruto! He dashed forward, three enemies came from nowhere and surrounded him.

Sasuke was exhausted, ninja like him were supposed to be all powerful supposed to swipe away enemies like flies, this is true, but not after you had battled for hours on end, his reaction speed was slow and sluggish, his arms screamed in protest to lift his blade, his adrenaline and chakra were constantly being used, the strain on his body was horrid.

You try fighting like that constantly, oh yeah sure bring up the argument 'you're ninja, you can handle it, you have chakra, CHAKRA WAS NOT THE BLOODY ANSWER ALL THE TIME' Do you not what chakra is? It is harnessed life force and meditations and some other spiritual mumbo jumbo, which means, it takes awhile to make and to use it requires a lot of concentration, ton's of it, so use of chakra when in a sea of enemies was next to none.

You had no time to think let alone concentrate on a jutsu, so that is why basically all ninja were turned into normal people during a fight. Bodily limitations and bodily abilites...were all you had. So yeah, maybe at a time you could pull of an insanely strong S rank move and plow down a couple hundred enemies, but that was when you were fresh, had the time and the ability to do so, none of which Sasuke or Naruto had at the moment.

Sasuke groaned as one of the fucking creatures bit into his shoulder. He brought his sword up and stabbed it in the head, he heard the sound of its skull fracturing. Then blood and brain matter spilled onto him, wet, warm and sticky. He shuddered and kept moving. Striking down another man with a fast stroke to his abdomen, the man screamed as he fell to his knees trying to clutch at the guts and intestines that spilled out.

Sasuke moved past him, he would die soon, and painfully too. Sasuke ran at top speed, the sword was beginning to arch down towards Naruto's head. He screamed out. Trying to distract the enemy. But to no avail. Sasukes legs were taken from under him. One of the four-legged deer like Lumenion had tackled into him.

It's antlers stabbed him in the chest and guts. He coughed up blood and groaned. He managed to get a kunai out, his sword dropped. He hacked and hacked at the beast on top of him. It tossed it's head about in pain. It's limbs randomly lunged out trying to get its feeting. Sasuke roared at it, wishing it would just die! He sliced it's neck, blood spilled out from the wound, the Lumenion spasmed, blood chugging from its mouth and neck.

It saturated Sasuke in a waterfall of blood. He shook himself and pulled himself towards Naruto. Scrabbling in the dirt he dragged himself towards his friend. He looked up, but it was too late, he was too late. The man was grinning triumphantly over a still form of Naruto. He screamed, oh gods did he scream.

* * *

Mammoth glanced to the west line of the army, they were holding strong, the east and middle line however were not. He whistled for the nearest messenger a demon sparrow. "Tell the 5th platoon to go in and give support to the east line." The sparrow nodded and chirped away moving as fast as he could. Mammoth turned to see his personal summoning hawk land down.

"Our connection with the spy network has been breached! We haven't been able to get in there and rescue them" Mammoth nodded "Tell Kakashi at the moment, it would be suicide to go after them, they knew what they were getting in before hand, their names will be remembered, I know he wants to help them, but we do not have the men to do so."

The hawk nodded and flew back to Kakashi. He stood on top of the walls. Gritting his teeth. "Come on let me go down there" Bee said to him. Kakashi shook his head "no, we have no idea what those weapons would do to you" "They wouldn't get near me" Bee said. Kakashi glared at him "doesn't matter, we still can't risk it."

Bee sighed "What can we do?" Kakashi sighed "Wait, that is all, we can't call a retreat, we will have to wait for them." Bee nodded "I know, but it feels like they won't ever call for one, how many of those blasted creatures have we killed?" Kakashi shrugged "no idea, but the ninja are slowly disappearing and only those creatures are remaining, and worse, they are growing in number and strength."

Bee punched the wall "What the hell is happening, we need answers!" Kakashi nodded "Our spies would have them, but I received the blue bird" He said holding up a paper blue bird. It was a spy sign of 'we have been found out' Kakashi sighed. Then Mammoth's summoning hawk appeared "Mammoth says we cannot sacrifice ninja to try and save them."

Kakashi sighed, he knew that would be the answer, Mammoth could always be counted on making the hard decisions for the better of a whole, he valued each member of his 'herd' but if saving one or even a few menat to big of acrifice, he would turn his back, if need be. Kakashi nodded "fine then, I guess we can only hope."

Kakashi looked to see a fresh wave of enemies break out from the lines of the enemy camp. He cursed, this would shatter their sketchy hold on the enemy. He opened his voice to call out commands only a sound broke out, loud and triumphant. He turned, his head towards it. On the far said of Konoha, figures were emerging from the foliage of the forest that stood.

A large commanding gray creature, massive, with large ears and trunk swayed back and forth as it desended into view. Two large tusks rose high and prominent. It was an Elephant. "What the...hell" he said. Then behind the elephant was a large line of bulky gray creatures...rhinos, then gorillas...bears even! Was this the other part of the army?

They marched forward, shaking the ground, big hulking creatures they all were, slower and in need of extra time to move. Kakashi was happy to see that some more wolves and lions were with them, then behind them was scores and scores of...water buffalo? Naruto didn't mention any of them. Kakashi shook it from mind he was just happy that these beautiful creatures, with bodies moving in a rhythmic sinewy grace, their horns and fangs gleaming they moved into the mass of oncoming Lumenion, basically plowing them over.

The earth rose in rapid fashion as if it came to live itself. It was both effective as an offense and defense. Offensively it knocked over and hit the enemies, defensively, it formed a nice barrier to their nin, giving them time to rest and recover. This was the time most of the injured were quick like pulled of the field and fresh troops scattered out.

But there was no need to do so, the demons had managed to push and beat the enemies back, they called for a retreat, by the grace of the demons, they had managed to survive long enough, Konoha held on for one more day, they could live to fight another. Kakashi called out for a retreat as well. Both armies scuttled back to their homes, like whipped dogs, both waited in the shadows, licking their wounds and nursing their grudges against the other.

The new demons came through the gates, their kin who were already their rejoiced and joined with them. Gomeg appeared from their midst, he walked towards Kakashi. "Why were you so late?" Gomeg spoke grinning as he did so. "Leave it to Naruto to let a blind badger lead an army." Kakashi, in the moment of the situation, laughed, it was a relief to have.

He nodded to Gomeg, "It's a good thing you came when you did, we needed you." Gomeg nodded "Aye, I brought both an army of warriors, and..." he said turning, Kakashi looked to see scores and scores of rabbits going through all the men coming in, healing wounds by themselves or in large groups. Three aged looking foxes were making their way towards the tents, each having a few rabbit's carrying liters with different leaves, and herbs on it.

Kakashi studied the other demons, he turned to see a group of large, lumbering bears walking through the gates, the ninja moved aside for them. They were huge! Their fur thick and lustrous, it seemed to gleam in the dying afternoon light. They made their way towards him, each wore a padded leather? Harness strapped to their wide chests. Their wrists had braces of some sort and on their backs looked to be...bows? Why would bears have bows?

All in all, there was about twenty of them. Kakashi turned fully to them. "We are the bear archers of the southern lands, I am Brek, these are my men." The Bear that spoke was a dark black, his teeth were stained yellow. "I am Kakashi, leader of the humans" Brek bowed to him, "we have heard much from general Naruto."

Kakashi nodded he glanced over "He will be here shortly, he is probably still on the field." Brek grinned savagely. Kakashi for a moment was so glad that this creature was on his side, he would hate to go against such a foe. Brek turned, "meet my friends, Dither and his men." Kakashi turned to see large gorilla's walking on all fours towards them, they had large fangs rising from their lower jaws.

Their fur was thick and dull but still seemed to glow with a certain power. The many wrinkles and folds of their face seemed to form a perpetual mask of a glower, perfect for a warrior. Their eyes glowed brightly beneath several folds as they made their way towards Kakashi. The first gorilla stopped "Like my friend Brek said, I am Dither, these are my men."

Dither waved a powerful arm, motioning to his men, Kakashi could see the rip-cord like tendons flexing, moving such massive strength. Once again, Kakashi found himself glad that he was on their side and not against them. He could also see the glinting metallic sheen of several well used and very large, sharp axes. Most were single-handed axes, that had two heads on either side of a short staff.

All of Dither's men had at least two strapped to his back, he also noticed that they wore black leather belts that held small blades and a small single-headed axe, most likely made of bronze or flint, it was light and easy to throw, probably used just in case all other weapons were lost. A gorilla in the back of the group was aged more so then the others.

His fur had a gray tinge to it and he had a large wise, knowing eyes. One of his fangs was chipped in half, and a large ragged scar covered half of his face, extending from the forehead over the eye in a pinkish, ugly, mark. Kakashi nodded to this one when their eyes met. The other did as well, they both knew what it was like to walk around, bearing the mark of a battle of long past.

He also noted that his particular one had a longer staffed axe. He also had on either hip, two hammers with jagged heads, looking like a hammer that a butcher would use to tenderize meat, but instead of meat, he guessed this gorilla tenderized heads. Kakashi for the third time, shuddered and thanked the gods and whatever guiding spirits that were in his life, that he was not enemies to these creatures.

Then through the gates came the aged old elephant, gray wrinkled and age spot splotched skin, thick and full of creases and wrinkles she towered through the gates. Her ancient tired old eyes turned to Kakashi. She raised her trunk in a salute, all around her the demons bowed to her and showed her a certain respect to her.

Kakashi noted she had a few scars and wounds, but none seemed to affect her. He bowed to her. She nodded her large head, her tusks gleaming, even though they were stained with blood. She spoke in a surprisingly soft voice, sounding like wind drifting through the willow reeds. "For very long I have lived and traveled this world, for very long I have come to see humans as enemies and betrayers, at first, I confess I was hesitant, I did not think the words that Naruto spoke were true, but now, with my old eyes I do see."

She paused, her dark chocolate eyes widening, and Kakashi could see the youthfulness that still existed inside her, the hope that bloomed. "When I looked upon the battlefield, where you humans fought with my kin I knew it then and I felt it deep in my chest, where my thundering old heart still beats, I knew that Naruto spoke truth, and I now know that I was wrong, I now know that the world finally has began to change, to change into a place where my people can live at peace within it, thank-you gor giving me this."

Then she slowly bent down, her tusks scraping the ground, her trunk arched and extended to her, like the arm of a performer extended in gratitude she bowed to him. Kakashi was touched, he extended an arm out and touched her trunk hesitantly, she opened her eyes, in surprise, their eyes met, her's warmed in a kind knowing.

She chuckled and rose, "What a gentlemen you are, helping this old girl to her feet." She rose saying this, Kakashi chuckled, "I see no old girl, but a charming beautiful lady." She blushed, at least that is what Kakashi thought she did, for she his her face behind one of those large ears of hers. She lifted her trunk from his hand, "This ladies name is Biskask, I am known as the lost elephant."

Kakashi nodded he brought his arm back down, "Well no longer are you lost, you are free to call this place your home." She chuckled, "Thank-you, Kakashi, my gentle-men leader." She then wrapped her trunk around his shoulders and hauled him in for a hug, he was pressed against the large bridge of her nose and for-face, his one eye looking into hers.

She easily plopped him back down on the ground, he staggered, such strength! He collected himself and adjusted his clothing then watched as Biskask left, behind her a small herd of rhino's followed. One turned to him "I am Bulmug, we are the earth-chargers" Kakashi nodded to him. "Welcome to Konoha, rest and relax."

Bulmug snorted in answer. "Thank-you" Bulmug turned and glanced to Biskask, he looked to her with a certain softness, "She sure is a beauty, good, strong old girl." Kakashi nodded "that she is" Bulmug snorted again, he looked away "er...right then, I shall go and rest" If a rhino were to scamper away, Bulmug did so, which was quite comical for such a large and commanding creature to do.

Kakashi turned once more, his heart stopped, Kiba was limping in tears cascading down his face. He stumbled towards Kakashi. Kakashi caught him. "What is it?" Kakashi asked . "Aka...Akamaru, I need help, he needs help, please I need someone to help me-" Kakashi nodded understanding, Akamaru was hurt and Kiba couldn't lift him in his condition.

Lee came running over, he had a few nicks and cuts and his arm was bandaged but he was okay. "I'll help you Kiba, come on let's bring him home." Kiba nodded vigorously. Together they left out the gates again. Kakashi wished he could have made Kiba stop and get checked over, but Kakashi knew that would be no good, he would keep pushing away the healers to get to his dog.

So better for him to get Akamaru and be relaxed and at peace then to keep a man away from his dog. Kakashi sighed and turned towards the wounded tents. He would go in and talk to them all see how they were doing, it comforted them, to see the Hokage himself among them, talking to them. It gave them the feeling that their generals actually cared about them, cared about their well being, which helped bolster their spirits and made the feel better.

Kakashi noted that the rabbits weaved in and out with such a rapid pace, healing and helping all, it eased and gave all the medics a chance to rest, the demons medics were now taking over. The three foxes seemed to be the top healers, working with the most brutal and hardest cases, while Gomeg seemed to just go about and command everyone and help the foxes or whoever else.

Kakashi stayed out of Gomegs way, like a cook, healers commanded the same respect when they were in their 'kingdom' and they were the kings, and they ruled with an iron fist and made sure nothing went wrong, if you were to do something wrong within their kingdom's you would get a whipping, medic or no. Kakashi turned one last time to the gates, he was a little confused 'where the heck is Naruto?' he thought.

* * *

Naruto felt the sword strike, but it wasn't right, it wasn't digging into him, slicing him open, instead, it veered to the right at the last second, and it cut him over the eye. The pain was excruciating, he whimpered at the pain, keeping his injured eye closed he looked up the man was grinning triumphantly. Vaguely Naruto could here Sasuke screaming his name, then the sounds of fighting and a man groaning in pain, he heard the sound of a Lumenion viciously dying but that was all.

The man spoke "An eye...for an eye, wouldn't you say?" Naruto growled at him. He had to think, he had to be smart now, he had already made a foolish mistake, now it would take his mind and brain's to get him out of this. He had to break free, he had to get to his pups, he had to get to his mate! Naruto wiggled slowly hoping to loosen the bonds.

The man tutted "haven't you learned?" he then sent a burst of chakra through Naruto, lightning type it electrocuted him. He groaned he fucking hated lightning type users! They sucked. He growled once more as the pain receded. But he noticed that the man, the leader of the Chen clan was staring off into the distance, and staring fearfully at that.

"What the hell" he muttered under his breath. Naruto felt a trembling beneath his, the ground was moving! The man glanced back down to him "I wanted to make this low and painful, but I guess my revenge will have to be quick."

The man raised his sword one more, "Finally, the white demon shall fall, and soon all demons after!" The man chuckled as he raised his blade almost ceremoniously over his head once more. Naruto gritted his teeth, he tried to concentrate his chakra, to do something.

"Even if I fall! Konoha will win this war, they will win it because, inlike you, they fight on the right side!" The man hesitated. "There is no wrong and no right in this world, there is only the world an ourselves, and it is our duty to look for our selves and our own, we humans have to look out for each other, you may have brainwashed a few to think differently, but we will soon set them on track, but like I said, now is the time for revenge."

A voice spoke "Funny thing about revenge" The man paused he looked up from Naruto, looking about and scanning the area in front of him. Then a blade appeared from a point in his chest. The man gasped and gurgle as blood began to well from his mouth, it shone and glistened like a ruby, because it contrasted to greatly against his skin.

Sasuke's head appeared from behind the man, resting on his trembling shoulder as the man slowly sank to the ground. The bounds around Naruto broke and shattered into pieces scattering into the winds. Sasuke spoke once more "Revenge is the only thing that will kill you before you kill it."

Then Sasuke quickly removed his blade and the man fell into the dust with one last grown he went limp. Sasuke glanced down to Naruto. Sasuke was clutching at his chest as his free hand sheathed his sword. He glared "What the hell were you thinking! You are lucky I was able to get here in time!"

Naruto groaned as he pushed himself up "I..I'm sorry...I didn't mean...to...I was just...I..don't know what overcame me" Sasuke sighed and collapsed down next to him. Sasuke stared into Naruto's face. "Naruto...trust me, I know what it's like, the pain and the burden you had was great, but remember what you always said to me? Revenge was never the answer, and if a person was a true friend, they would never let their friend get consumed by it. I have learned that now, which is why I took the burden from you, I killed him, so that you would realize"

Naruto cut him off "I know, I know, thank-you...you freed me, Sasuke, you freed me of the darkness that still had lurked within me, thank-you." Sasuke smirked and nodded "You're...erg...welcome, I guess...we're even now" Naruto quirked his head "What do you mean?"

Sasuke grinned "Well...I killed you before right? Well I just saved your life this time so that makes us even." Naruto grinned and chuckled. He turned his eye to the battlefield scanning it, "looks like we survived another day, I guess...I guess we are even, thank-you Sasuke."

Sasuke nodded "here, let me get something to wrap that eye, we might be able to save it yet." Naruto nodded "Well, I guess we better start heading back." Sasuke sighed "Yeah...how do you suppose we are supposed to do that, all my strength went into killing him" Sasuke said motioning to the man, "I can't stand, I'm about to black out as well."

Naruto sighed, "No, you don't, I'm not dragging your heavy ass back, I'll leave you here if you do." Naruto looked about, he saw a large piece of fabric, probably a fragment of a tent or something. He got up stiffly and staggered over to it.

He grabbed it with his teeth and brought it back, "Here...lay on this" Sasuke shook his head, "no, I will walk, just...give me a second, I can pull something out of my heavy ass." Naruto and him chuckled at this. Sasuke closed his eyes and took a deep breath, he pushed himself up.

Naruto stood next to him. Sasuke leaned on him, his fingers gripping Naruto's dirty fur. Then the human and the wolf, both of them dirtied, tired, and hurt walked away. But they did not simply just walk away towards home, they walked towards life and friendship, they walked away as survivors, friends, and most importantly, as equals.

* * *

**Sorry it took so long. It took me awhile to come up with how to put things together, but I like what I did.**

**NSW**


	81. Cat and Mouse

**Life as A Fox**

**Chapter 80**

**NSW-The Forsaken Author of the Lost Story (see my bio for explanation)**

**Also I have a new story out called 'A Forgiven Father' It is something I have written on the side for a while, and it's chock full of OC's but..you might enjoy it, it's kind of hard to explain...so just check it on your spare time.**

* * *

Naruto and Sasuke walked in through the gates, they were part of the groups of ninja later to return. Instantly someone saw to Sasuke, dragging him over and helping. A few other rabbits led Naruto to the demons healing area. Naruto groaned as he lay down.

The rabbits scurried about, grabbing ointment and conferring with one another. But he heard a familiar voice filter through his ears. "Get me some Murdock root and marigold stem" Naruto shifted his head over to Gomeg. He grinned "Hey, you're late." Gomeg grinned "We had to wait for a few late comers, the water buffalo tribe had to make a detour, but they caught up to us."

Naruto nodded "I am glad you came Gomeg, we needed you, I...did something foolish...again, and if it wasn't for Sasuke..." Gomeg sighed "I figured just as much, you can't help being foolish Naruto...it seems to be in your nature, but...did you learn your lesson?"

Naruto nodded vigorously. Gomeg smirked "Good, now hold that ugly muzzle still for a few seconds, if at all possible and let me check that eye." Naruto did as he was told. He lay as Gomeg prodded about with his eye, placing a salve and healing bandage over it.

Gomeg after half an hour stepped away. "Well?" Naruto asked. Gomeg spoke, "Only time will tell, no internal damage was made, but...let it heal up, you might have some sight loss in it, but not much." Naruto nodded, he was worried a bit, but he had trust in Gomeg.

Naruto turned there was a Lioness next to him. She had bandaging around her chest and side. She glanced to Naruto and nodded to him. He nodded back. "How are you?" Naruto asked. She chuckled in her throat "I am doing quite well, we lions are strong, this is nothing."

Naruto grinned admiring her strength "That is good, but save some enemies for the rest of us okay?" The lioness chuckled again. "Of course I will." Naruto shifted himself about trying to get comfortable. Then a familiar beautiful scent hit his nose. He turned to see Yume.

She dashed over to him and licked his muzzle, she peered up at him, worry in her eyes. "Whats wrong?" Naruto asked her. "Your eye..." He sighed "nothing to worry about love, Gomeg has it covered." She lightly placed her muzzle over his wounded eye, as if giving it a butterfly kiss.

He sighed contentedly, feeling her warmth, "How are the pups?" he asked her. "They are asking questions about the noises outside, they keep on asking 'where is father'" Naruto licked her muzzle. She closed her eyes and sighed when he did this. She leaned up and placed her front paws on the bed next to him, lying her head upon his paws.

There was a war outside the tent, a war that seemed to them endless in such a short amount of time. But at that moment, when lovers were reunited, no war could tear them apart. Their hearts beating next to each other, breathing in each other's scents, Naruto buried his head into her warm fur.

He spoke "You tell them that the noises outside are not anything to fear, and that their father loves them and will always be there for them, and that he is proud of each and every one of them." He opened his eyes "Tell them that no matter what happens, we will be together and we will be safe, because we have each others love and respect, and that love and respect is the greatest and most powerful weapon there is."

Yume nodded "I will tell them that, I will tell them, that with love...all wars and all pains can be conquered, all fears can be put to rest, and that they will have nothing to fear because their father loves them, and would never let anything harmful come near them."

Naruto nodded "That's my girl" he said to her. She chuckled, "I must go now, you need rest." Naruto nodded "I will, could you do something for me?" She stepped down and nodded "Go see how Kiba is, and tell me how Akamaru is doing." Yume nodded sadly.

"I have done so already, Akamaru...is have difficulties, Kiba was injured and Akamaru sacrificed himself and detoured three Lumenion to attack him instead of Kiba, he has many wounds, Hana is doing her best, but Akamaru is an older dog, been through much, his body is starting to resist healing like all do after awhile.

Naruto sadly nodded understanding it was the way of things, after awhile a person's body get used to being healed by chakra, so they needed more chakra each time after to heal, but sometimes there wasn't enough and a person had to survive long enough for the body to repair itself.

Naruto sighed "Just...keep me updated I guess." Yume nodded "I will, I must return mother can't watch the pups all by herself." Naruto smiled softly, it was a good thing for Yume to find her mother. Then Naruto was startled with a thought. "Wait? What about Fenrir? Have you heard any news of him?"

Yume shook her head, "No, I have not, but I will keep an eye out for them." Naruto nodded "Very well...then" Yume shushed him "Shhh, you must sleep, your body is exhausted, you must rest, no thinking, no worrying, just...sleep." Naruto closed his eyes, and with her sweet voice, he did drift off into a peaceful slumber.

* * *

Yume walked over to where Akamaru lay, in the corner of the human healing tents. Kiba sat next to him, looking worried. He kneeled next to Akamaru's head, holding the great thing in his lap, a hand softly caressed Akamaru's head. Akamaru looked out in pained eyes, whimpering at random as Hana stood over him, hunching she stitched a wound.

Yume glanced around, all around her men lay groaned and moaning in pain, her nostrils picked up the smells of blood, sweat and misery. Some men cried in heaving sobs, others cried silently, teeth and jaws clenched, holding back their cries. Exhausted and tired nurses and healers were ushered from bed to bed, trying to save every life and limb they could.

A few rabbit demons helped out with the humans as well. A single fox sister was healing a man while two rabbits and a crow demon ducked back and forth grabbing herbs for her. Yume glanced at the buckskin colored tent walls, then to the used and dirtied bandages that haven't been picked up yet.

She felt sorry for all in the tent, she felt sorry for Kiba, and Akamaru she felt sorry that so many fought and got hurt and died, for them, for the demons cause. It wasn't right, it wasn't right that people had to fight and die over this! Why couldn't people just see that demons had a right to live, that all creatures, no matter how big or small or how different, had a chance at life and to live it.

She sighed, such a world could never exist it seemed. She stepped forward nearer to Kiba, she sat next to him and placed a paw on his knee, he glanced to her and nodded, knowing that she was sad for him and that she was there for him, helped comfort him.

Akamaru was his buddy, he was more then that, he was like a sibling to him. They had been through so much together, his dreams were Akamaru's dreams, his fears..well with Akamaru he had none, sure he might be afraid, but with Akamaru he knew no matter what he could make it through, that he had the courage to stand. As long as his familiar white canine was beside him.

He felt a few tears fall from his eyes, sliding down and dripping off the point of his nose, landing on Akamaru's head. Hana spoke "now is not the time for tears Kiba, be strong, he will make it, as long as you have faith in him, just as he had faith in you."

Kiba nodded and wiped his tears away, holding them back with a trembling jaw. At the moment none of his wounds seemed to be there, the only thing he felt was a hollow opening in his heart, and a pit of fear in his stomach. The fear of losing his familiar, the thought of losing Akamaru made the hole in his heart.

But he would be strong, he glanced down to Yume. She spoke "Naruto as returned, he is injured on his one eye, we are not sure if he will see fully out of it, time will only tell." Kiba nodded, then it hit him, why was he crying and thinking that he was the only one to have something to fear? Why was he thinking that he was the only one who had someone to lose?

Everyone did, everyone had fear, everyone had something to lose in this war, and yet here Yume was helping him, giving him strength visiting others even though the one she loved was injured. She did not weep over him, even though she probably felt like it, no she was doing exactly what Naruto would want her to do, she was being strong, if she could do, then dammit so could he!

He took a deep breath, calming himself. The fear went away, his heart stopped aching. He spoke "Don't worry boy you are going to be fine, because you're my pal and I love you, I believe in you." Akamaru turned his head ever so slightly, and he almost seemed to say.

'_I know you do, I love you as well'_

Kiba ruffled his fur then slowly eased himself from Akamaru, he turned to Hana, "You take care of him, and tell me when he gets better." Hana nodded, then turned her head, hiding her small smile that toyed with her lips. Her brother really finally did grow up, all it took was a war or two.

* * *

Sirya shifted uncomfortably, trying to get blood flowing to her cramping legs. Her back and shoulders screamed from the position she was, as her but had grown cold and numb from the ground she sat upon. She was hunched over, her arms tied roughly and tightly behind her back, around a pole that she was forced to sit against that jammed into her back as well.

Her face was red,raw and sore from the beating she received, her jaw throbbed in ebbing pain. But no matter how much she hurt on the inside it did not matter, she was strong she would survive, she would make it through somehow, somehow. She did however, feel a pain inside of her, mostly in her chest, mostly in her heart.

She knew that they wouldn't send someone to save her, but it didn't hurt sending that bird anyway. She sighed and closed her eyes. Letting all her memories of her life sweep through her and carry her way to a much better place. The place she went to was quiet, and simple, a small house, almost like a cottage, a little kitchen with yellow walls, and pale tiles.

A comfy living room with a fireplace that always gave off the right amount of warmth in the winter months. That home was perfect, and they got it at a good deal, back then, they were not an Anbu general and a spy, no, she was teachers aid, and he...he was a jounin that was quickly rising in the ranks.

But still the moment he walked through that door, his job was forgotten and she was his world. They danced to no music in the kitchen, they slept next to the fireplace some nights, buried in a nest of soft blankets and each others arms. Those were the good memories, the memories that lasted for a lifetime.

She remembered his laugh loud and filling, seemed to shake the entire house, she remembered how she would kiss him on the cheek and run away, playing a game of cat and mouse. How he would catch her and swing her around hold her like she was a princess or an object of value, he truly did care for her.

Life was good for them, it always was, but two years passed, and his reputation changed him. More and more responsibility, more and more things on his shoulders, he had to watch out for everyone, lead them on. Which wasn't bad at first, in fact she was proud of him and at times he was afraid that he couldn't do it, so she gave him pep talks and told him he could do it.

He believed her and took the strength she had to give, and he became a better and better leader, but the stress it did upon him made him more and more distracted and tired. He couldn't be both her lover and a leader, he would have to choose, and she knew as a leader, he would have a better chance at life. So she did the hardest thing she ever could do, she removed herself from the equation, and forced him to become the great leader she knew was inside.

That was one of the hardest things she ever did in life, leaving him when her mind said yes and her heart said no. But she had to, she had to. The memory of doing so brought fresh tears to her eyes. She bit her lip trying to suppress her sob. It was against all that they had taught her when she trained to be a spy, they trained her to withstand pain and torture, to never give out information.

She could stand people burning her or stabbing her, beating her or humiliating her and doing terrible things to her. She could withstand all those things, but the thing that she could not withstand was the memory of betraying him. She shook her head, it was too late for that now, he probably forgot about her.

She heard footsteps at the tent flap opening. She silenced herself and waited. The woman came in, like always she was followed by an abused and frail looking girl who always looked down and did what she was told. Next to the girl was the boy who looked at everything with a blank dull gaze, his mother had controlled every action he had did all his life, Sirya felt sorry for the boy.

Sirya looked up to the woman, Suki. She was in her normal garb, gray pants and revealing silk gray top with a white lab coat over top. Her blonde hair was pulled back in an intricate bun, smelling fresh of strawberries and honey. Sirya scoffed on the inside, only this cold woman could waste time looking prim and proper in time of war.

She smirked with those cherry red lips. "Well, well well, the Konoha spy" Sirya hardened her heart and gaze. Suki walked forward "So, you are the reason they are so...prepared." Sirya said nothing. "Come now" Suki said. "I am not going to ask for you to say anything, I just like to know I am right, a nod of the head would all that need be required."

Sirya stayed absolutely still. Suki glared at her "Fine, have it your way, I guess I don't need to have you confirm, I know I am right." Suki waited for a bit. "But here is something you might like to see." She snapped her fingers and the girl scurried away like a whipped dog, she dashed through the tent flap.

For a moment Sirya could see beyond the flap, she could see men and Lumenion walking about camp. Going to their tents or beds to rest and eat. Some men were happy, others were sad. Some just stared blankly ahead. The Lumenion always seemed to walk around with an aggressive wariness plastered onto their grim strange faces.

Then the flap was closed and all contact with the rest of the world was cut off. Not that anyone would care if she screamed or called out to them. None would help her, she was alone, and most likely going to die, but she would last for as long as she could. Sirya prepared herself. Suki waited glancing at her nails and thrumming them against a wooden crate.

The tent they were in must have been a storage room for something, she had no idea what. Then the girl came back in, her hands balancing a large platter or plate. It was covered with a metal lid. It seemed to be heavy because the girls arms shook as she carried it over. Following Suki's direction she placed the platter on a crate that was pushed in front of Sirya, she stared at with an exact eye-level.

Suki spoke "Remember that young male spy? From the Lightning village? Well this is what happened to him when he didn't give me my confirmation, you see we scientists have a special system of how we work and compile information, I need to know, I can't go off the assumption that I am right, even though I mostly know, I still must have confirmation."

She lifted the platter lid. Sirya managed not to vomit. In front of her was the decapitated head of an ally and a person she came close to calling friend. The eyes were rolled back and disturbingly mismatched. The tongue lolled out of the mouth ever so slightly. The hair was mussed up as if the person had just awoken from a nap.

She looked away but Suki caught her chin and made her stare good,hard and long. "No no no my sweet, you need to see what reaction could happen if you answer falsely." Sirya spoke her voice level "I don't care if you kill me." Suki turned her head, using those bony cold fingers. "Kill you? Who on earth ever said I would kill you?"

Suki snapped her fingers and a struggling fox demon was brought in. It was scarred and it's fur ruffled. It still fought it's captors though. Sirya's stomach flipped and her heart almost stopped beating, she wished it had. "Nod, and I will let the beast go" Sirya was at conflict, her training told her, that no matter the costs, information should be kept.

But another part of her said that the information was not worth an innocent person's life. Like a cat toying with a mouse, she was trapped. She glanced down, a tear falling from her cheek. She spoke "You will let him go? As in his freedom, he would not be harmed?" Suki shrugged "We will kill him another time anyway, probably tomorrow, besides some of the men like to find stranded, wounded demons and drag them back to camp for amusement, it's a regular past time."

Sirya spoke "I will tell you all you want...just please let him and any demons you have go free, not to be harmed." Suki mulled this about, after some time she spoke. "He, and three other demons, may leave and will not be harmed, do we have a deal?" Sirya collapsed on the inside, she would have to, it was either those four lives or none at all.

She nodded and spoke "My name is Sirya, I am a spy of the village of Konoha, I have been spying here for about a month or so." Suki nodded "good then." She turned and thankfully placed the lid on the platter. She snapped at the girl "Release the creature near edge of camp, and find three comrades for it to run away with."

The girl did as she was told, once more scurrying out of the tent. Suki turned to her child. "Sweetie, mommy has to work, why don't you go back to the tent?" The boy gazed up at her with wide innocent eyes, he had no idea how terrible of a person his mother was.

The boy turned and walked out of the tent. Suki turned towards Sirya. "Now then...where were we?" Sirya for a moment wished, that she could have just died.

* * *

**NSW**


	82. Mammoths Decision

**Life as A Fox**

**Chapter 81**

**NSW- The Forsaken Author.**

* * *

That night when all was quiet. When neither line made a sound or movement, when the ninja all slept in a deep slumber, their bodies soaking in the well needed rest. One man dreamed, a dream he had never dreamed in a long time. About a time in his life that seemed almost ages ago, a time he thought he had forgotten about.

They were lying next to the fire-place, their bodies entwined and glowing in the firelight. He felt her special warmth next to him. He felt her caress his cheek. He looked to her, into her mesmerizing eyes. She whispered to him, in a voice that sounded fearful, with an edge of pain to it.

She said it with a sudden ferocity. "Look at me" was all she said. Mammoth opened his eyes and was staring up at the ceiling of his tent, the early morning light starting to filter through it. The dream unnerved him, but also awakened a sudden revelation in his head. That spy in the office, she was the right height, the way she stood and walked, instantly he remembered that gait, that presence overwhelming, how did he not see it before!

He leaped to his feet, a sudden urging in his heart, his logical side screamed at him, but for to long has he listened to logic, he wanted to follow his heart right now, and his heart told him to go to her, before it was too late. He just needed to find her, which is why he was bursting into the Hokage's tent at this time.

"Kakashi!" He yelled. Kakashi snapped up "What is it! An attack?" Kakashi jumped out of bed, still dressed, he had not wasted time changing, his robes rumpled and wrinkled. "No" Mammoth said "Just...remember hat spy in your office?" Kakashi rubbed his eye and glared at him "You woke me up for this?"

Mammoth snapped "Would you just listen to me!" Kakashi glanced at him, Mammoth was different, he seemed un easy about something, and the desperation in his voice worried and surprised Kakashi. Mammoth sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "The spy, do you know her real name?" Kakashi nodded yes he did.

He knew the names of all his spies. Mammoth spoke "She is about 46 with gray-green eyes, her voice is soft and her light brown hair is the color of roasting chestnuts." Kakashi gaped at Mammoth, Mammoth had described the spy perfectly, although her hair had streaks of gray running through it now, but still.

He spoke "Sirya" Kakashi said. Mammoth nodded "I thought so...even after all these years...hn, and here I thought I would never see her again." An odd light flickered into Mammoths eyes, longing, sad but also hopeful. It was then he realized that look was the look of love. He never knew Mammoth had a lover, and it seemed he only had one a long time ago, but for some reason he wanted to re-claim it.

Mammoth spoke "The spy, who sent the message for help, it was Sirya correct?" Kakashi nodded as well, knowing that Mammoth knew this already. Mammoth sighed and he spoke to Kakashi, his voice holding a new emotion, resolve. "I will go to her, I will go and save her, I know that it is wrong of me to do this, that the village can't sacrifice me, but...I must go Kakashi, don't you understand? I must go to her!"

Kakashi looked sadly to Mammoth, his pleading eyes. Mammoth wanted this badly, he could tell. Kakashi spoke "Why must you go to her so badly?" Mammoth spoke "Because I didn't chase after her before, now when I have the chance to do so...I am not going to let her slip away from me a second time, I am going Kakashi whether you like it or not, and if I live or die I don't care, but mark me, I will hold her in my arms once more in this life-time."

Kakashi nodded "that is your decision, I can't stop you if you really want to, but tell me why did you come here, why did you not leave right away?" Mammoth spoke "Because, I must be smart about somethings yet, there is a great chance that I won't be coming back from this, and if so I wanted to tell you who I would like to take my place."

Kakashi nodded "I suppose that would be nice to know, but I can already guess who you have in mind." Mammoth smirked, "I bet you do, and if I do make it, and you don't, who do you have in mind?" Kakashi chuckled, "Oh, I have several candidates, but none of them will get it until I am ready to relinquish this floppy dumb hat, until then I am going to keep on fighting."

Mammoth nodded "Don't we all? But there will come a time Kakashi, when you realize that fighting is not always the thing that keeps you going, sometimes it's living your life, how you always wanted it to go." Kakashi nodded understanding, sadly just how prepared Mammoth was. He was going to face and defeat every enemy he met until he reached his goal and then once he made it there, Kakashi knew something rare and beautiful would happen, and Kakashi both longed and feared to see what would happen.

Then a silence stretched out between them, before Mammoth bowed to Kakashi, just a curt, head nod, of a great powerful beast, lumbering off, to war. Kakashi wanted to call out to him, to stop him, his heart beating wildly, he couldn't let Mammoth leave! Not yet! Kakashi was not ready to let him go just yet.

Kakashi ran after him. "Wait! Wait, come on be sensible about this, don't leave now, you would easily be detected, let us wait and come up with a plan okay?" Mammoth stopped, then he nodded a heavy sigh escaping both of them "I guess,...you are right." But then a messenger interrupted them. "Sir! Four demons have came back from behind enemy lines!"

Kakashi was gone in an instant, Mammoth on his tail.

* * *

The four shadows ran across the border, scurrying and flying over the ground, their goal in sight, the safety of the walls, the safety of their allies and their kin. A fox, a Lynx, and two mares ran beside each other. The mares snorting as their hooves thudded into the ground echoing. The lynx limped a little in his stride, the mares each had terrible gashes running down their flanks, all of them had been trapped and tortured, but thankfully, they were delivered from their pain and certain death.

But in turn for their lives, another would be given great pain, and a great betrayal would befall from the human females lips. Taji the fox felt sorry for the older female, she was so ready to die, but she was not willing to let him die, that was what surprised him, she had betrayed all her training so that he could live, he a lowly fox demon.

Through the early gray light of morning they made their trek to the walls. A sentry saw them and gave them a call, Taji gave three sharp barks in answer, the mares whinnied in high-pitched voices, calling to their kin on the other side of the wall.

The Lynx let out a feral growl, on the other side of the wall demons were waking upon hearing their kin call out to them. The mates of the mares, tossed their heads about and stomped the ground in impatience as they waited for the arriving demons to come through the nearest trench opening beneath the wall.

From out of the shadows they cantered up into Konoha, appearing like ghosts from beneath it. The mares ran to their mates, rubbing and butting their heads together, as they spoke in hushed and worried voices to one another. A lone fox sister dashed out to meet them. Mateet, was her name, she instantly barked out for some of her helpers, and she began to work on the mares, who lay down on the ground to rest and give Mateet easier access to heal them.

The lynx, whose name was Bordir fell upon the nearest container of meat, eating for the first time in awhile. Taji joined him and then turned to Mateet, "He is injured as well, but I must speak with one of the generals, who is awake?" A voice spoke "I am" Taji turned to see the human general with one eye, the leader of the humans.

Taji bowed as he felt so tiny looking up at the towering human. "I am Taji the fox demon." The human, Kakashi his name was, nodded. "Nice to meet you, is it true that you escaped from enemy camp?" Taji nodded "But we did not escape they released us." Kakashi twisted his head ever so slightly. He glanced about, studying each of them.

Bordir spoke "It is true, they were going to kill me but the one woman came and delivered a message, saying that three of us were to be released along with him." Bordir said beckoning to Taji. Taji nodded Kakashi thought deeply why would they release them? "Do any of you know why they released you?"

Taji stepped forward head bowed, "It is because a human said she was willing to give information for freeing us." Kakashi at first didn't know what to think, whether to be happy or upset that someone would do such a thing, sure there was a betrayal there, but it was hidden under the relief of not having to lose more allies.

He sighed "Do you know who she was?" Taji spoke "I was held in a contained next to the tent were she was captive, she had told them her name was Sirya." Kakashi froze, "Sirya?" another voice had said. Mammoth had rushed over "You are sure you heard Sirya?" Taji nodded "Yes, she told them her name was Sirya and that she was a ninja spy from Konoha."

Mammoth seemed both releived and saddened at the same time. "I...somehow...it was fated that this was to come, I must leave now Kakashi." Kakashi spoke "wait, I know you want to go, but please just wait a little longer." Mammoth shook his head "I have waited a lifetime for this Kakashi, she might not have that kind of time...Kakashi you may not be ready to let me go, but I know I am ready, that is the way of all things, please...let me do this, no more fighting...I mean...your not going to win anyway, there's no telling a Mammoth what to do."

Kakashi smiled under his mask, even in this situation, bitter and haunting, Kakashi could not help but smiling, he nodded then, slowly, finally accepting that Mammoth had to leave "What use is there of a plan? You are right, no one can stop a Mammoth." Mammoth grinned, perhaps, maybe the last one Kakashi would ever get to see, he longed to lift his headband up and save that image to his mind forever.

The pale morning light caressing it's fingers against Mammoths skin, making his smile seem to grow, that calm confidence that seemed to sing out from every move of Mammoths as he turned and walked away. His steps seemed to be defined, echoing as they carried him away further and further from his friends and people who trusted him, who needed him, who believed in him.

Kakashi bowed his head in respect, that man had looked after him when he himself was in the Anbu, Kakashi had followed him through many a danger and yet Mammoth always lead his men through it and all of them survived, not once on any mission did he lose a man, he was just as his name signified, a lone large Mammoth who protected his heard to the last violent thrust of his tusks.

Mammoth walked away, feeling for a moment as if he was abandoning all that he knew, all that he came to know. But deep down a revelation came over him, what he had learned and what he has come to know was but shadows compared to what he always truly desired. He loved being a leader, don't get him wrong, he loved the respect and the loyalty that came with it.

But, Being a leader, living that life, it had it's moments, it had it's perks, but he always had been truly satisfied and content, with only having one person to lead, one person to protect, one person to love...and that was Sirya. So he may be leaving his herd, leaving those who needed his protection, but he left knowing, that inside of Konoha, there was a person that would take over his stand.

He passed his torch, and his will onto another, knowing that person would and could do it, maybe even ten times better than he. Mammoth smirked, I guess sometimes, Mammoths and wolves are more the same then you would think. With that Mammoth moved off, the sun to his back, and fresh enemies in his sight, and with love in his heart, he knew, that he would not be lost.

* * *

**NSW**


	83. Siryas Resolve

**Life as A Fox**

**Chapter 82**

**NSW- The Forsaken Author.**

* * *

Darkness, she could feel it pulling in around her, closing and cutting her off from everything. Trapping her in tenebrous night. She couldn't speak, what words could she say? Who would listen? She couldn't fight it, He body was bound and beaten, she was a broken thing, a hapless broken thing. She could lie there and accept it. Like a large quilted blanket, it wrapped and folded around her, slowly suffocating her.

But deep down she knew it was the right thing to do, that what she got was what she deserved, she deserved to be known as a traitor, had she not betrayed him? She deserved to die this way, it was better for she to die then them. Those beautiful creatures that had so much potential, that clarified so much about us humans, showed that by cohabiting, demons and humans could make the world a better place.

Yes it was better for her to bear this burden of death than any other, it was batter this way, it was, it was. She lay on the ground, all information taken from her. Suki sat on a chair, across the room. Sirya could faintly sense her. A silent tear rolled from her eyes, blurring her vision, she made no effort to move and wipe it away, why? Another would soon take its place and another and another.

She wept silently upon the ground, her spirit dashed upon the stones, grounded and mutilated it was taken away from her, without any sign of coming back. Her stomach called out in hunger, but she knew that no food would be provided. She knew know that there was no use for her. Suki sighed and got up.

"You have helped me greatly, and so you have helped our cause as well, maybe we should keep you alive, long enough so you can see your village fall." Sirya before would yell back at her, tell her that she was wrong, than Konoha would never fall, but that was untrue, all great things fall, all great things must die, everything has an end and a close, even if you don't want to admit it.

The splendors of spring fade away to autumn and bleak snow. The vigor and beauty of youth fades away as well, and over time deteriorates, than after all youth was gone, our bodies are left only to decompose as our spirits escape to the possibility of an afterlife or peace. Would there be peace for her? She wondered, did betrayal of love condemn one to an afterlife of woe?

Maybe it did maybe it didn't, but either way she would accept it, she would accept everything with a silent, forsaken compliance. She moved her head ever so slightly to turn to Suki. The woman and her poisonous beauty, it made a cold anger run through Sirya, but it was too late for anger, it was too late for anything.

Suki spoke "No half formed rebuttals, or fights? Has the dog been whipped into place?" Suki chuckled and suddenly kicked Sirya across the face with her elegant flats. Suki turned chuckling to herself, "I want to make your end enjoyable," she said turning to her "you took away my demons, the only things I had to amuse me."

Suki leaned down, and clenched Sirya's face with her cold fingers, studying her. "I guess you will be sufficient enough, but I will have to wait, you are not the only one who had their 'amusements' taken away. She grinned viciously. She turned and let in five men, all of whom leered down at Sirya. Sirya knew what would happen to next.

She spoke finally, some life rekindling inside of her, a small ember of spirit flared. "What would your son say to you, if he was older and knew how terrible you were." Suki snapped at her. "Silence you bitch! You have no idea of what I have suffered! The one man I ever loved, taken and destroyed before my eyes! My life dreams taken away from me! That child is all I have left to remember my lover, that child is my whole world, never would he say a thing against me, I am his mother I am the one who loves him most."

Sirya spoke "You love yourself most, the child is just an object to you, like you said, he just a living memorial of another creature you once held in your clutches." Suki crackled her fingers in sudden anger. Wanting to kill the thing that lay before her, but no, no, she would not let that cur get off easy, she would make the dying long and painful.

She turned to the men "Do your worst to her, just make sure she's still breathing when you're done." The men nodded and advanced towards Sirya who was brutally picked up and slamed her against the pole. Her clothes were then shredded and like beasts, each man was upon her each having his own long and gruesome way with her.

Suki grinned, good, more pain for that thing. She briefly wondered though how much pain could the bitch handle before dying? This would be an interesting experiment. Suki chuckled to herself as she walked back to her tent, she needed rest and possible another bath, this time with lotus petals. Upon returning to her tent she saw that her son was eating, the thought of food reminded Suki she would need to feed herself and that wretch after she had been raped good and long.

Suki spoke to the other wretch within her life, the serving girl. "You, get me food, prepare the bath then tell the cook to deliver food to the spare tent in an hours time." The girl nodded and scurried about silent and obedient, like all servants should be.

* * *

The cook left at exactly an hour later. When he arrived upon the scene, men were exiting the tent, readjusting their clothing, and looking calm. By their demeanor he could already tell what had happened. A cold pit formed in his stomach, true he was a simple man, but he was raised with some ideals about how woman should be treated, like a stove, they should be treated with respect and with love, not anything should be just shoved into them on a whim.

Keeping his eyes to the ground as he passed by them, he tightened the grip on his tray and entered the tent. There she lay, in a crumpled heap, her limbs bending and twisted over her body in a desperate attempt to cover herself and her shame. He looked away as he stepped towards her, a sadness and pity extending from him to her.

She was crying silently, clear crystalline tears, seeping slowly from her vacant sad eyes. He spoke softly, a shiver ran through her body, reminding him of when a horse shakes flies from its flank. "It's okay Sirya, it's me, I'm not going to hurt you." She made no recognition at first.

He eased down next to her taking care to move slow, even tough his old bones protested at it. She shook from cold and from fear. He found an article of what looked to once be clothing. He laid it over her skin, she clutched at it and hid herself beneath it. Clinging to it like it was her only thing that could save her.

Many emotions tore though him, so many it made him question why exactly was he here? It made him question if this was the correct way to follow the god. Would he really want his creations treating others like this? There was something not right about this, this was terrible, sick and saddening.

He could hear a whimper from beneath the cloth. He looked around for something more to cover her with. He found a blanket, then he exited the tent quickly and fetched a bowl of water and a towel from his own tent, to hell with making lunch right now, his staff knew how anyway.

He went back to the tent, she was sitting up, her knees in front of her. She peered out like a caged injured animal, wary of everything. He spoke calming, slowly, ever so slowly, he got her to relax, the wildness came out of her eyes. He finally was able to touch her, he washed her hands, then arms.

Moving the wet cloth across her pale cold skin. He washed as much as she would let him. Then she seemed to take over her body once more and began to clean her more intimate regions. He kindly turned his back as she did. Then after a while, her soft voice, that once held warmth was now decapitated to a wispy pale version of what it once was.

She croaked out a garbled "thank-you" He nodded "It would be inhuman of me not to" she closed her eyes slowly in place of a nod. He pushed the food tray forward and removed the murky water bowl. "Eat, you need your strength" "For what?" she asked in that wisp of a voice, it sounded like wind blowing across hollow bones.

He sighed, "To live to keep on going" She shook her head, "don't you know? Who I am?" He shrugged "A hell of a good helper? A good caring person?" She shook her head "all of it a guise, I am a spy, from Konoha." The news shocked him little. "Does it matter? I am a cook, not a fighter, nothing you did affected me any did it? I have my stove, I have my supplies, I have my spoon and knife, you being a spy does not affect that."

She stared up at him, then slowly her face crumpled, she cried, but it was different it was happiness, with shaking sobs she sobbed into him, her head resting upon his chest. He set his hands on her shoulders. "Shhh now, you forget everything that happened, forget all the badness there is, it's okay now."

She calmed down slightly. "But...they will kill me, its only a matter of time." Once again he felt a coldness grow inside of him. "Then why do they keep you alive?" "Amusement, since I agreed to it" he shook his head "Why would you do such a thing?" She glanced up to him "so that innocent lives could be saved, four demons, were released because I was willing to suffer for them."

He sighed "You really are to caring you know that?" he said. She sniffed, he closed his eyes. "You know" he began. "I think, if one, such as you, is willing to go through this for demons, then just maybe...just maybe, I am a fool, and I am cooking for the wrong men." Her eyes cleared then a brightness returned to them.

"I would say so, though I don't even think the gods deserved your meat pies." He grinned, "there it is, that fire inside." She paused for just a second, "What's wrong?" he asked quickly. "I don't understand, why is it...why are you helping me and caring for me?" He sighed "Because you did the same for me, I guess it's karma either way, I am getting you out of here."

She stared at him as he reached over and cut her bounds with his small shearing knife he carried on his person. She sat there blankly for a couple of seconds, until the awareness that they didn't have a lot of time to be idle came over her. She shuffled to her knees, going slow, the pain that was inside of her was throbbing and excruciating.

The feeling of being torn in two and having to live with the shame of having men do that to her. She shuddered, she was lucky she let her mind go blank when it began. she just surrendered and let it happen, her mind thankfully did not remember much, it was only now did she start to feel the full force of what had been done.

But she shook her head, she had to escape now, she had the chance so she was going to take it. Maybe somehow redeem herself to the village she betrayed, and maybe then, someday, redeem herself to Mammoth. The cook, whose name she never learned walked to the tent flap, glancing out, he turned and motioned for her.

She staggered to her feet, she walked slightly hunched over and limping in pain she forced herself to go forward to him. Wrapping the blanket tightly around herself. He paused, "Wait...you can't escape with nothing but a blanket...hold on." He turned then rifled through one of the boxes, muttering under his breath "I remember seeing it before...were did they put it?"

Then with a sudden beat, he found it, a smile breaking across his pudgy features. He turned to her and held out what looked to be simple garments, gray pants and shirt, then on further inspection of the box, he found a pair of shoes. They were slightly big for her, but she took them with vigor, it was nice to be dressed.

Once more he turned and let her place the clothes on. When she was done she spoke. "Thank-you, thank-you so much for all you have done." He nodded "I'm just doing what I think is right, I am no hero, I am just doing what's right." She cried softly, this man, he was truly sweet, just like the pastries he created.

She walked up and gave him a hug. Wrapping her arms around his larger frame and his round belly that all great cooks seem to have, it was the mark of a cook, to be plump and happy, except for when people get in their way or mess up their food. She spoke "You are a good man, if I was years younger I would have married you."

He chuckled "We both are passed that age my dear, plus, your heart belongs to someone else, just as mine does." She smiled softly, he was right, the stove would always be his lover, it controlled him more than any other wife could. She chuckled at the thought. He spoke "shh, we must hurry." He peeked out, no one was coming.

He grabbed her hand and they walked swiftly. Weaving in-between tents and dodging and hiding when they heard a voice or footstep. Their hearts raced in the fear of being noticed. It felt like ages before they saw the edge of camp. The cook led her to the marker of trees that grew and still stood. He spoke to her "Hide in their until the men and Lumenion move out, then while they are on the move go and travel to the forest that grows on the side, go around the battle field, even though it's shorter it's dangerous, and you are in no condition."

She nodded and hugged him once more "I never though..." she began. "Shh..." he said and pushed her into the trees "Wait!" She whispered loudly. "Your name, please tell me." He spoke "My dear, I have always been known as 'Chubbs' and wouldn't have it any other way." She stared into Chubbs eye's for but a few more moments before she nodded and spoke.

"Then good-bye it is to my good dear friend, Chubbs." He leaned forward and kissed her on her forehead, "Good-bye child, and be safe." Their hands skimmed and brushed each other as they split apart. They turned away from each other. Tears striking her face as she tried not to turn and grab him and drag him into the trees with her.

Chubbs stood there, listening to the sound of brush being moved as Sirya walked through it. Then it went silent as she found a suitable position to hide and wait for. He felt the urge to turn back and hide himself, but he knew it would be a lost cause, a person built like him could not hide within a forest, for one the clothes he wore stood out, and secondly, he had no idea how to do such thing, he knew how to cook every animal in the forest, which leaves and which plants go good together, but to move about through a forest silently?

Impossible for him, the best he could do would to blunder about like an elephant with three legs. He sighed and moved forward. Heading into camp, only he didn't make it quite that far. Six lumenion and the five men appeared. "Hello there" one said. Chubbs nodded to them, pretending he had been on a stroll or walk.

"Hello yourself, good day for a battle no?" The men smiled in a strange way to each other as if they knew something. "Out for a stroll?" one asked. Chubbs noted that the Lumenion were circling about him, cutting off escape. He pretended like he didn't notice. "Of course, after the morning breakfast rush sometimes I like to unwind by taking a walk, it also lets me experience fresh air and sun, rather than my cook fire and the smells of the kitchen."

One man spoke "oh, I bet, but...speaking of smells, don't you smell anything?" Chubbs glanced to him "pardon if I have an odor, but I work up a sweat in the kitchen." The man shook his head and stepped closer "no, no, it's not that." Chubbs thought "what kind of scent is it?" The man shrugged "I can't put my tongue on it, it's just...reeks."

Chubbs turned "Something might be decaying on the battlefield, I don't think we got all the bodies." The man shook his head "nah, it's not that either, you know what I think I smell?" He glanced to the others "I smell a dirty, little fat rat." Chubbs made no outward expression "Is that so?" he asked. "Yeah, because apparently, someone says that they saw this peculiar little fat rat, go into one of the tents, that held a nice piece of cheese, and he took it all for himself."

Chubbs nodded 'You are right, that is what rats do, but then again, the rat only got to the cheese after five pigs had their way with it." Chubbs buckled over as pain tore through his entire body. He fell to the ground, clutching his midsection. The man who punched him stood over, eyes burning in fury. "You fat little man, how dare you call us pigs! You are big enough to be mistaken for one!

Chubbs looked up as the five men laughed at the not so clever joke, he had been large all his life, such jokes hurt him no more. Then he heard a screech as something came flying in, knocking the man aside into the dirt. The Lumenion scattered, it was such a sudden attack. All of them were in confusion for a few seconds.

Chubbs managed to twist his body to see what was going on. There stood Sirya, a tree branch in her hands, wielding it like a samurai sword. She swung and attacked the next one, her fury and pain put into her blows. She hacked and hacked with her tree branch, pathetic as it was, it made the ninja back down for a few moments.

But a Lumenion grabbed her branch and broke it with it's jaws. Another lept for her. She took the little chunk of branch that she had and slapped the Lumenion in the head hard. The wolf Lumenion whimpered and crashed against the side of a nearby tent. The tent buckled and fell over top of it, burying the creature in layers of fabric and rope.

You could hear it growl and see it wriggle and squirm trying to free itself. She quickly grabbed a nearby stool that stood outside of another tent opening. She broke it with her foot then held two pieces of wood that had made the legs of the stool in her hands. She used them like mêlée clubs. Spinning and slashing with a ferocity at anything that came near her.

She kept knocking the Lumenion away. Anger and fury in her eyes, for one as old as her, and for one who never did this kind of stuff before, her actions seemed like nothing anyone could comprehend. She was a spy, a normal one, they went through some self-defense training, but most of the time, they were taught to run and hide, that is what they did.

But here she stood, waving and wielding around two pieces of wood against five ninja and five Lumenion on the edges of an enemy camp doing this all to protect a man who some would consider her enemy still. But like Chubbs had said, sometimes you do stuff, only because it was the right thing to do. But even though she had all this courage and rage, the enemies still over took her.

She was pressed back faster and faster, soon she was just fighting to stay alive, her limbs were weak and sluggish. She panted ragged. Fear grew inside her, she knew soon she would not be able to protect herself. She glanced to Chubbs, he had stood now, and was backed into a corner, his little shearing knife was out and he was hacking at the Lumenion that kept snapping and lungeing at him.

Two Lumenion bore scars across their faces, fresh cuts that bleed. Chubbs was sweating in effort, she could see fear in him as well, but he would not back down, he would stand and fight. She quickly ducked beneath a few wild punches of one ninja then ran to Chubbs, throwing one of her sticks like a dagger it spun in the air, then with a loud crack it knocked into a Lumenions head, it made a satisfying crack as well, then the Lumenion fell to the ground in a heap.

The other two beside it, turned to it and sniffed, sensing its weakness and pain. They turned to her with dazed looks, not knowing how a simple wooden stick had hurt one of their own. With a leap she landed in their midst and hit both across the muzzle, knocking them back.

She grabbed Chubbs arm and they ran towards the woods. But their escape was not to be. The Lumenion had regained their composure faster than she had anticipated. Because suddenly with a loud cry Chubbs was torn away from her hand. She turned a stick at the ready. But it was too late both Lumenion were upon him, tearing into his gut with greedy muzzles.

Blood pouring forth from his wounds, Chubbs screamed in agony. She flung herself forward, tears in her eyes. She had to help him, it was who she was. All the training in the world could not fix or hide who she truly was. She was a helper, a kind and caring person, one who was willing to five her life so carelessly for others, it was who she always have been.

It was a defining trait in her, one that was once her strength, was now her weakness. With a sudden ferocity she lay blow after blow on the Lumenion, beating them back into submission. They backed away. Which was unheard of, Lumenion never back away, they didn't understand fear, but now...now they did, they for the first time had met a creature who was obviously weaker than they. Yet here it was hacking and fighting against them with such strength, it confused them and unnerved them, that day was the day in marking when they had learned that even the creatures created by the gods, could know fear.

She collapsed down next to Chubbs, grabbing his hand, holding it, knowing that he didn't have long. He gazed up at her, his eyes having a hint of fear, but he mostly held a calmness in him. He was ready, this look was the one that brought fresh tears into her eyes. She smoothed back some of his thinning hair.

Without a word he handed her his shearing knife. Then he spoke to her, "Better wash it twice before cooking with it, don't want to spoil the food." It was so strange, to hear him say those words to her, that she let a small laugh out, despite the situation, however it was a sad laugh that made her wish she could save this man.

She spoke "I'm so sorry...I...I..you didn't deserve this" He shook his head "no, I do, I do, I helped feed this army, I helped keep this war by cooking for these ninja and giving them strength to do so much evil, I realize this...now...and..well...gods know I regret this greatly, but if hell is what awaits me for choosing your side at the last second, well then, hell I will gladly accept...I'm a cook aren't I? We feel at home when we are in the heat of a stove."

She let a sob out. She leaned down and hugged him, holding him as his spirit, his gentle, caring spirit, so much like hers, faded into the afterlife. She prayed, for the first time in a long time she prayed, asking every god there was, to let this gentle man into a place of peace and not torture, he deserved that at least.

But she knew she would have to go soon, the Lumenion were gathering and rearranging themselves once more. Sirya stood, her resolve complete. She turned, a stick in one hand and a knife in the other. She then took one last look at Chubbs, who lay looking almost peaceful.

She then turned and ran, if they wanted her, they would have to catch her first. Behind her she could hear the sound of feet falling in pursuit after her. She glanced down at her knife as she weaved between the trees, bounding gracefully over fallen logs and obstacles, she didn't know how long she would last against them, but gods be damned she would bring as many down with her as possible.

* * *

**NSW**


	84. A Mammoths Heart

**Life as A Fox**

**Chapter 83**

**NSW- The Forsaken Author.**

* * *

Her heart was beating in her chest, louder and louder it thudded against her ribcage as she heard the enemies coming closer and closer. She heard the snapping of branches as a man blundered through the brush. Like a pack of hounds they circled about, trying to sniff her out, it was only a matter of moments before they would break through the brush and devoured her.

With growls and snaps the Lumenion spoke to each other, the men who walked among them only seemed to match the Lumenion in basic instincts and communication. She clutched the knife in front of her. She closed her eyes briefly, then opened them she glanced down at this tiny blade in her hand, it felt so insignificant and futile.

But then for a second, she saw Chubb's limp bleeding form in the blades reflection, she remembered all the pain and agony these men had caused her. What the did to her and what they took from her. She had made a resolve before, she would not lose it now. She would hurt these men back, their actions cried for them to be punished, and she was in the mood to punish, she pushed away her fear as she pushed herself away from the tree.

She stood, waiting for them to see her. It took only a moment before they made a sound, the Lumenion went into pursuit. She ran, a plan in her head.

Leading them on she staggered out of the brief cover of surviving woods. She blinked as she adjusted her eyes to the glare of the falling sun. She thought randomly, even in the situation she was, she thought that the sun looked so beautiful, perched, just resting the furthest hill, surrounded by a sea of red's, orange and yellows.

Casting an almost romantic effect upon the field. She turned as she heard the men come out. "Time for this bitch to die like the fat one" She held out the knife. The men chuckled "That thing won't protect you no more than it protected the fatty" "Stop calling him that, he was a kind and caring person, more of a man in one finger than anyone of you are in your entire bodies!"

The men laughed "Well kindness isn't going to save you sweetie now is it?" Before she could answer someone else did, in a voice, that, she had not heard in so long of a time, it seemed like time stopped as that mesmerizing voice descended upon their ears. "You're right, kindness won't save her, I will"

Then he landed in front of her, mask gone he stood in full glory, his face may be scared, but his eyes glowed still with that passion he always had. He turned to her, their eyes matched momentarily, and everything that was between them was laid bare, they both knew that at this moment, they both still harbored feelings for the other and that nothing else in the world mattered to them then this.

He turned back to the enemies. One spoke "You should step aside old man" Mammoth grinned, it had took him awhile, but he managed to find her, just in time as well. He glanced back to her, she stood, defiant, with a resolve burning in her eyes. That was the woman he remembered, that was the woman he loved, she looked worn, tired, and dirty, but she yet was still strong.

He spoke "Was it you who caused this woman to look like so?" he asked them. They laughed one spoke up still chuckling. "Yes, in fact all of us had some good quality bonding time with this woman, why not? She was tied up, couldn't fight back." Mammoth cracked his knuckles as he tightened his fist.

The way his eyes switched into angry ones, the amount of controlled fury made the nin glance to each other. Who was this man? "Of course" Mammoth said after a bit, not relaxing his body at all, his eyes digging into them. He spoke with a commanding voice, one that seemed to bellow and resound.

"Only beasts like you can couple with a woman after she has been tied and beaten, only after every bit of fight has been forced out of her, that is the kind of woman who would submit their bodies to you. You who are just gutless, spineless, unworthy creatures who don't even deserve the name 'man'"

The men glared at Mammoth. "We'll teach you" one said then reached for his weapon. Mammoth didn't growl, but...made a low rumbling sound. This caused them to all freeze, it was unnerving. "You young idiots have no idea who you are messing with" He simply stated before attacking.

His fist connected with one of the five in an instant, knocking the mans head back the man's neck snapped with the blow. The body thudded to the dust. Mammoth turned as he caught a Lumenion by its throat, he held it in the air as he glared at the snarling creature.

He grinned, the creature momentarily stopped, realization actually filtering across its features, once again something happened in its primitive mind, it learned, it had learned that not everything would fall to it, that it...could be defeated, that it could die. And die it did. Mammoth crushed it's throat as he tossed it aside and turned to the next enemy.

The man made a quick jab to Mammoth's side. Mammoth stood unaffected by the kunai in his side. It was nothing to him. He grabbed the man's wrist and snapped it. The man screamed and fell. Mammoth kicked him in the chest. Two of the men rushed him. Using short blades they lunged at him, forcing him to give ground as the Lumenion trailed around them in a circle.

Two went for Sirya. Mammoth made an attack, using the brute strength he possessed he grabbed both blades in mid-air, his gloves protecting him from the sharpness of the blade. The men were surprised, as they couldn't pull their blades from his iron grip. Mammoth twisted his arms, tossing both in the opposite direction.

He spun and charged forward bellowing at the Lumenion. Sirya had slashed one but another was leaping. There was no time for a jutsu so he just threw his shoulder into it. He grunted as pain finally filtered through his hardened senses. The Lumenion was tearing into his shoulder.

He stared at it for a moment. Then Sirya attacked, she made a shrill sound as she stabbed the Lumenion on his shoulder over and over in the neck and side, not really aiming, just satisfied that she was hitting flesh. The Lumenion slackened his hold on Mammoth and fell down, blood gurgling in his throat, whimpering it dragged itself away from the onslaught.

Sirya showed no mercy. She kicked its head then stomped on it a few times. Ugly and brutish was her killing method but it worked. He gazed at her, in all her radiant beauty, covered in blood and brain matter she looked to him. Eyes meeting once more. He smiled to her, feeling like a young man again.

His heart fluttered, he moved towards her, all thought pushed from his mind, he reached for her. But his arm was pulled away by a Lumenion. He pulled his hand away, the Lumenion whimpered in surprise as it felt itself being pulled upwards into air. Mammoth easily tossed the Lumenion aside.

* * *

The Lumenion thudded in the ground, confused, it had been tossed as though a great beast had just did it, yet it was a simple man, wasn't it? The Lumenion stood shaking, this was not right, something was not right, too many of their numbers had been destroyed by these creatures, and the others, why did they fight these in the first place, even now the voice of their creator was silent, no more commands to be given, it seemed like they were forgotten...but that can't be right...wait, what were they anyway?

It staggered back, no longer wanting to hunt, no longer did the call for blood run rampant on their mind, with every new generation, their thought became muddled and unclear, what was their purpose? Why fight? The oath of their ancestors the first of their race already was a faded thought.

The Lumenion glanced to its others, they seemed set on blood, but...she did not? She shook herself once more and walked away, wondering at first if others would follow, none did, she decided to go back to camp, go back to others find...solace with others, others not like them, others like her. Others who did not want blood, others who knew that their lives could end, together they would run away find place for them to live and produce.

* * *

Mammoth faced the two nin who had staggered back to their feet, they shook themselves as they straightened themselves out once more. Mammoth turned, grinning. He moved forward, but pain shot though his side, shoulder and torso, it seeped through, attacking his chakra.

He groaned. Shaking his head he lumbered forward. The nin glanced to each other than attacked, knowing that Mammoth was weakened the poison of the Lumenion working, chakra would be unusable through out most of his body, if he did, well he would soon find out that it would hurt like hell.

But Mammoth proved quite the ninja, not using chakra a lot he preferred to fight with his strength. He was able to take hits and give worse ones in trade, even with one arm. But after a while, he grew tired from tossing and throwing everything aside with one arm. He thought of concentrating his chakra, but a warning went through him, his mind told him no, that it would be bad, but it was too late, such a simple rookie mistake, forgetting the info he had received.

When this happened he had thrown the Lumenion against each other, making them land in a rumpled heap for a bit, they in a daze stayed there. He was punching one nin across the jaw when another came on his weak side, ready to strike. Mammoth turned ready to use an earth wall to protect himself, but the moment chakra flowed through his arm, a pain like no other hit him.

He roared but did not drop to his knees like so many a man before had done, he stayed on his feet. And kept staying even when a blade was pushed through his torso. He grunted as blood welled into his lips. He glared harder at the man. He gripped the mans shouder with his good arm, then proceeded to collide his head against the other man cracking the other's skull with the force.

The man staggered backwards and fell he would die a slow death of having his brain bleed and hemorrhage. Mammoth turned slowly, pulling the blade from him, such annoyance. He grinned as the three remaining men stared at him. Why wouldn't he die? Why wouldn't he fall?Who was this man!

One spoke out "What...what are you?" "I am a Mammoth, and you are the scabs that I will trample" Then with that he charged forward. With wild swings and jabs he layered blow after bone breaking blow upon them. But he was slowed down, the pain from the wounds catching up to him.

"RIDA!" Sirya screamed, he turned, it had been so long since someone had used his name. He almost forgot it, but he came to his senses, when she said it. She was being attacked by the Lumenion, her blade knocked from her. One was on her leg the other her arm, tearing into her perfect flesh.

He felt fear grip a hold of him "SIRYA!" He bellowed then turned, not caring as a few kunai thudded into his back he ran to her. He grabbed the one Lumenion by the scruff of the neck. He used it as a club and knocked the other one away. It cried out in a loud yelp. Mammoth swung the one Lumenion like a sac of grain, hauling it up over and over his shoulder using one Lumenion to slay the other by bludgeoning it to death with it's own kin.

After both had ceased making noises, Mammoth turned to Sirya, bending down next to her. She bled profusely from her wounds. He applied pressure. She reached up and put a hand next to his own wound. He felt a tear fall from his eyes, this was the first time they had touched each other in such a long time, and even now after everything, she still cared about another person before herself.

A sad and bitter happiness welled within him, it was strange what he felt. He mostly was happy that he found her again, like a long-lost dream she had sifted from the mist and formed into a real living thing in his arms. He placed a hand upon her cheek, removing a glove, wanting to feel that flesh once more.

He smiled down at her, then spoke "Sirya" he said softly. She looked up into his eyes, mesmerizing as they always had been. Both were then teleported to another world, together they ignored all the pain, all the sorrow they had. Life before this moment seemed like an empty and hollowed world, only now did they actually feel their hearts beat, feel themselves breathe, only with one another.

"Rida" she said softly, her voice a wisp of what it once was. He leaned down closer, he knew that the enemies were circling now, reinforcements had come. He knew that they were trapped, that they would die, but he had did what he had set out to do, to find his love.

So if his last breath in this world were to be breathed together with her, then he was fine with that. He closed his eyes and did not fight it. Why fight it? All his life he had been fighting, he was tired of fighting, he was tired of running, he just wanted to be with her. Could anyone understand that, even if death was the only way to be together, then he would gladly embrace it.

That is why he did not fight back when he felt the sword plunge into his back, he merely took it in stride. The Mammoth within him was content, it no longer fought, it had laid down beside it's lover and together they waited for the cold winter snows to come. Death did not concern him, death had no hold or sway over him. Even as shadows and blurred faces moved around the two lovers, nothing could break their sanctum, nothing could pull them apart.

Even when the enemies left them to die of their wounds the lovers did so without complaint, and though the setting sun was almost half way buried beneath the earth, the glow of peace that surrounded them never did fade. Together they bled, together they cried, and in the last moments after many whispered words of compassion and claims of meeting each other in the next life.

Mammoth, leaned down to kiss his beloved one last time. A sweet innocence passed between them as their bodies made last shuddering sighs. Together they fell to the earth, holding each other, looking into each others eyes, as their spirits joined together in an after place, on a far distant plane, and there the Mammoth guarded not a herd, but his one true love.

* * *

Naruto burst from his dream, knowing, feeling a great sadness in him, a loss, he knew that he had lost someone important to him. He staggered up fear for Yume and his pups, but he knew the pain of losing them would have been greater, then he tried to think, tried to filter through the various soul bonds he had.

Tugging each one, making sure they were secure, he went through the list, Kiba, Hinata, Hime, Kakashi, Bee, Gaara, Sakura, Lee, all of them safe and fine. Shikamaru, Gomeg, Neji, Ten-ten, they were fine as well. He knew already his demon kin were fine, but who was it? Then it hit him as he came to Mammoths bond, faded and broken.

Naruto howled in agony, not Mammoth! But how!? He leaped from the bed, staggering he weaved and clattered through the healing tent, some demons had been awoken by his cry, they were now going back to sleep, passing him weary sad glances as he passed. Naruto pushed through the tent flap. Already he could see Yume running to him, she must have felt his agony through their link, for a moment he was sad that he had allowed himself to lose control of his emotions, but this was Mammoth!

She came to him "What is wrong?" she asked him. He staggered to her, tears in his eyes. "Gone...he's gone" Yume was afraid, also confused and sad for her mate, clearly something was the matter. "Who?" she asked. "M..Mammoth...he's...he's gone" Yume whimpered and licked him trying to console her love.

He wept, slowly collapsing against her. She held him up best she could but in the end they were both on the ground, he sobbing into her shoulder. Asking and pleading why wasn't he there? Why couldn't he protect him? Why didn't Mammoth send him instead of going himself? Yume shushed him and reminded him that Mammoth knew what he was doing, what he was getting into.

Naruto could only listen to her and agree even though it pained him. Although after a while, when the stars were bright and shining he heard footprints approach. He blinked tears from his eyes and turned his head to the sound that impeded on his personal grieving. It was Kakashi, he walked solemnly towards them, an eye cast sadly to Naruto.

"Hey" he said softly, and kneeled down. Naruto managed to disentangle himself from Yume and sit up, he and Kakashi looked to each other. "I guess you know" Naruto nodded "Soul line.." Kakashi nodded "Figured as much, I guess he really is gone, and here I was hoping...well I need to tell you something...something he told me."

Naruto looked to him "What is it?" Kakashi spoke "before he left, he knew that there was a possibility that he might not be coming back, so that's why he came to me, and told me who his predecessor would be." Naruto froze, "He...told you?" Kakashi nodded "I thought you might want to know, he wanted you."

Naruto was flabbergasted, he really was, he thought there were loads more of people within the Anbu ranks, older seniors who knew more. "I...no...it can't be me!...I...I'm young, I...don't have the experience others have...I'm...a Wolf demon for crying out loud!" Kakashi looked to Naruto, "Since when has being a wolf demon ever stop you from doing what you want to do Naruto? You have the skills, you have everything he was looking for."

Naruto was silent, he didn't know what to say. Kakashi continued, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You have courage, you have ambition, you know how to lead a team, you look out for others, you care Naruto, you care about the men, you see them as men, not as numbers, not as objects or pawns that you can sacrifice, you care about them all, you have heart...which is why you were named Wolfheart, and why he always had you picked out all along."

Naruto shook his head "It's...impossible, really?" he said looking to Kakashi. "It's true" another voice spoke, Naruto turned to see Mouse. The small wiry guy stepped forward. "He knew you were the one to take his place the moment you came back from your final test, when you stood up to him in front of all others, chewing him out for be careless to a guy, you had only just met, it takes guts, courage and a whole lot of heart. you have been marked from day one to be our General."

Naruto shivered, was it true? Was it really all true? He turned to Yume. She gazed at him, her eyes and fur radiating in the moonlight, she looked kindly to him, happy for him. He grinned softly. "I..just...am so honored,...but...I wish...I still wish it didn't have to be this way." Kakashi spoke. "I think that could be the story of your life in a single sentence."

Naruto glanced to him, and he chuckled. He glanced to the stars, so clear and vibrant, for a moment he felt so tiny to them, for a brief moment he wondered if Mammoth was looking down on him, from some far off place. Naruto hoped he was happy, and finally free, and possibly finally have that one thing he had been looking for.

He spoke "This is for you Mammoth" Then Naruto lifted his head back and howled, it was both a sad howl and a triumphant one, it made everyone shiver. It felt like for a moment, that wolf voices were created by gods, for only they could convey the feeling that everyone felt that night, alone, sad, but also...victorious.

* * *

**NSW**


	85. Changes within us

**Life as A Fox**

**Chapter 84**

**NSW- The Forsaken Author.**

* * *

It was the dawn of the next day, a lone wolf gazed out over the ramparts of Konoha, casting his steely gaze across the battle field. He peered with only his left eye, the right eye felt dim to him. Although he could see through it, it felt as though he was seeing through water, everything seemed to be slightly blurred and...odd.

But he was slowly getting used to the disorientation of his sight. The thing that weighed heavier on his heart and shoulders was the fact that he, Uzumaki Naruto, or also known as WolfHeart of the Anbu, was now Anbu General, the leader of the most elite of Konoha.

He sighed, how could he even begin to think of how to command his troops? He was now responsible for all of their lives, he was the one to tell them what to do, to order them, they counted on him, what if he messed up? What if he was wrong and they paid for it? This was a fear that haunted him and even though Yume and Kakashi expressed and told him over and over that he was right for the job, that Mammoth wanted him for it...he couldn't shake the small feeling as though we wasn't cut out for it, what if they were wrong?

He heard the sound of foot prints, he looked over to see Sasuke coming up to him. He held an arm against his side where fresh bandages had been wrapped around his wounds. He was battered and bruised but he still was alive and kicking. Naruto dipped his head slightly in recognition then continued to gaze out.

Sasuke leaned against the wall next to Naruto, they shared a silence with each other for a bit, a light wind blew across them, shifting his fur or Sasuke's hair about. Sasuke spoke then, "So" he said. Naruto's ear flicked catching the new sound. "I heard about...the General, I'm sorry for your loss" Naruto sighed and gazed to him.

"He was a good man, a great leader, I don't know if I could ever match him, he was the best there was." Sasuke nodded "I have an idea of what it is like to be in someones shadow, the feeling as though you could never be able to match them... in fact" He paused "You don't want to match them, you don't want to go through all they did just to be as good as them, but you feel if you don't do exactly what they did you could never come close to them, it's like the sun and you are just an ant in comparison."

Naruto grunted, thats exactly what he felt like, Mammoth was good because he sacrificed all regular life to do so, could Naruto be as good as Mammoth without sacrificing his family life?" Naruto didn't know how he could balance it, how could he even think about abandoning his family?

Naruto turned to Sasuke "Sasuke, when you achieved what you set out to do, when you became just as good as your older brother, what did you feel be honest" Sasuke gazed out, a sad darkness coming to his eyes. "I don't...I don't like thinking back on those times, but...I do remember how I felt, when I had finally killed my brother, when I finally was as good as him and better, I felt..."

There was a silence "Well I felt empty, I had climbed the mountain only to realize that yeah, the sight is amazing, but I can't stay up here forever I have to get down from here somehow, it was that realization that made me...well I just wanted to find something else to do, I didn't want to go back down the mountain so I tried to find something else to climb, I set my goals higher, I cast my vengeance to a further plane of existence, I thought if I destroyed Konoha, then only then could I surpass my brother."

Naruto blinked "Well then" he said. Sasuke sighed "And of course, I did a lot of things that I regret, but like you, I just keep on trying to convince everyone that I am going to do what I set out to do, I may be stubborn and annoying at it, but...well maybe that's not a bad thing now is it?"

Sasuke said smirking at Naruto. Naruto grinned back "No, it's not, but what are you trying to convince?" "That I really have changed for the better, that I can change the clan, I can bring into the world better Uchiha, who fight not for themselves but for others, like the clan used to do, I am resurrecting and preserving a better path for all of the Uchiha to come."

Naruto nodded "This is good, very good, don't worry this wolf is one less person you have to worry about convincing, and...I will back you up if need be." Sasuke grinned "Thanks" he said. Then absently he patted Naruto on the head. He froze "OH! I'm sorry! I didn't...I well...I just...sorry" he said putting his hands up in defense.

Naruto laughed "Sasuke, It's all right, I actually like it, Kakashi and everyone pets me all the time, I don't have fingers, so...do you mind scratching behind the ears? Please?" Sasuke stared at him a slight pink blush coming to his features, almost matching the pink blush of the sunrise as the sun yawned and cast its light over the earth.

He reached down once more and hesitantly scratched Naruto's ears. Naruto sighed and leaned his head into Sasuke's fingers, giving instruction he finally concurred that blasted itch that had been bothering him for a bit. Sasuke finished scratching then the two re-kindled friends stared out as the light claimed more and more of the land back from the dark night.

* * *

With shaking limbs he walked forward, a silence withstanding the entire area, a dull roar of wind screamed deafening as it swept across the battlements of the wall. All around him the subtle flapping of fifty black cloaks. Naruto looked to his men, yes his men, these were the people he commanded, the men and few women within the Anbu were now under his watch, and all of them were there to pay tribute to him, their new leader.

Mouse was by his side. Mouse had served as an office assistant and wing man for forty years in the Anbu, he had served three Anbu Generals, and now an Anbu General wolf demon. Over the years he had come to learn a lot, each leader was different, each had their own little quirks, and each had their own motto's and ways on how he led.

Now Mouse never showed favoritism it was not who he was, it was not what good assistants do. When a new boss stepped up to the plate, you must be like clay and mold yourself anew to the new boss, forget everything that was before. However he was now with a green horn boss, in the middle of a war, at the moment, WolfHeart would need his knowledge and expertise in handling this.

Wolfheart glance to him. "A speech would be very reassuring to them sir" he said softly so only WolfHeart could hear. He nodded than turned. Mouse had faith in him, rough around the edges and maybe having a few flaws, he knew that in time, experience and a guiding hand would buff away the ugly and bring out the shining diamond of a leader to them all, it would only be a matter of time.

Naruto stepped forward, they stood in lines, waiting as if knowing a speech was coming. He cast his eyes over them all. Then he began. He began by saying the truth. "I am not very good with these speeches, I am not very good at a lot of things, truth be told, I didn't expect to ever find myself in this position, commanding and over seeing such a talented group of people."

He took a pause for air. He continued on. "In the Anbu we learned, that sometimes during missions, things don't go as planned, and even though we did everything we could and double checked and rechecked and made sure everything was perfect...it ends up shattering to pieces." He sighed "No one plans for a person to die, especially not someone as important as Mammoth, he was a great man, and leader and I hate to feel this pain."

He looked up "Few know that we demons, especially we wolf demons, form soul lines, lines that bind our souls to others, they let us feel each others fears, know each others weaknesses, know where each other is, that is what they show us, however the draw back is, when we lose even one, we feel unbearable pain in our hearts."

Naruto cast his eyes to each and everyone. "I am in pain, but I know that this pain will help me through it, Mammoth believed that I would be the one to lead you, so gods be damned I will do so! I may be just a lowly wolf demon, I may just be a three-year Anbu member, but I know that in my heart and soul that Mammoth is looking to me to lead you and I promise you all right now."

He looked intently into their eyes, knowing his eyes were burning with resolve. "That I will not let you down, that faith in me is justified, I know it is a lot to ask of, we are in the middle of a war, one cannot so easily just throw his life into another's hands...or in my case paws, but still! Trust in me, and I will lead you as far as this world will take us!"

A silence still loomed over them, but it was different it was a silence of acceptance Naruto could feel it, he could feel and even faintly hear the sounds of soul lines strengthening their resolve within him. This was his pack, his mighty pack, and together they could fight any enemies that came.

* * *

The angry blood-red dawn had risen finally. Casting its glare over the field. There was a charge in the air, a crackle of energy. Everyone could feel it, a surge, a connection that lept from one person to the next. Especially among the demons, they had enough, they have had enough of this war and enough of these losses, the same could be said for the ninja as well.

Naruto was past his grief now, he was onto his anger, but this was not the out of control berserk anger that led to trouble, no, this was the calm distant anger that powered one through things, that kept you moving, kept you fighting. Naruto lined up, his wolf pack mates spanning alongside him, shoulder to shoulder they stood alongside any other demon that wanted into the fray, yet another charge, yet another day of battle, would it end today would it finally be over with?

One part of him hoped so, but then another part of him did not wish it to be, he loved battle, the thrill of the hunt, it was his nature, as was the nature of humans, hunting and waging war was how they survived and thrived as a race, eating the flesh of animals that they defeated in long vigorous hunts, it was there way, it was the way of all things to live and to die, a cycle that was not to be broken.

He knew of people, people who said it was unnatural and not right to be violent, that as a species we have over come such things, which in a way is true, we have over come such things, we have learned more to reason and to make alliances and to solve problems without fighting, but the fact of the matter was, no matter how peaceful things may be or get, you still needed to know how to fight and protect yourself, you could not always lean on words, even though he was one of the few who could probably talk his way out of anything, but then again...if that were true why was he in this war?

It just when to show that even the best talkers had to ball up and throw some punches otherwise he wouldn't be able to get his point across. Well Naruto was ready. He turned his head to Kakashi standing on the battlements. He saw the small nod with his good eye. Naruto turned his head "Time to repay the kindness that they gave to Mammoth, let us send them off into a nice retirement from their jobs...INTO THE AFTERLIFE!" The demons around him roared in agreement and then the stepped together as one towards the enemy.

* * *

Strange, that was what it was, why did they always return back to these two leggers? Why these certain ones? Why not the others? Why were certain ones the ones they were to kill and the others not to kill? Why was there to sides to this...battle? She could not tell them apart, they all looked the same, pale skins, standing on two legs, arms and hands with... appendages that allowed them to grasp things, their voices, all of them had distinct voices, the males of their kind deeper, the females how few there were lighter, higher.

Yet between the two sides she could not tell them apart, only the markings of bright rock on their foreheads told her which was...friend? Which was foe. Swirl, rock, and blob? Was enemy, enemy who came from the great walled place. Friend was them around her, her fellow...what were they? What did they even call themselves?

The..pack leader? Of the Two-leggers? Called them the 'holy beings' yet she had heard said the first of our races, the ancestors had spoken and called themselves Lumenion. It was strange, why could their ancestors speak and she not? Why could she not open her mouth and speak to her allies, was something wrong with her?

Why did she think of such things? Why did she even think? Why was she not like the others? Vicious, hungry, and wild, fighting over scrap of food and spot to rest. No, she reserved herself away from her kin, watching them confused as to why she was like this, others of her kind could produce more of them from their sides and backs, in sacs filled with fluid that would soon grow to another one of them, she remembered like distant memories that was how she came to be, born on the battlefield as her birth-mother died.

She had as of yet not created a new being, she did not think it proper something inside her told her that was not how her kind should produce. A lot of things inside her told her a lot of things, things none of the others seemed to think of or realize. Did they not see that they were dying? Every time less and less of them came back, and the younglings were not growing up fast enough to replace the ranks, they needed substance and energy to sustain the sacs on their back, and food had run short.

Feasting on each other churned her...insides where food went, made a bitter taste run up in her mouth. She would do no such thing. She sniffed the air, once more the enemy was coming, she wearily walked forward into the mass of her own kind that growled and snapped ready for the fight. She found herself slowing and sinking more and more to the back.

Soon she found herself matching pace with three others, another female and two males. All of them looked into each other's pupiless eyes, and they could sense, that they all had found another one of their kind that thought the same as them. What strange happenings were becoming of some of the Lumenion?

* * *

**NSW**

**Sorry for the wait, Holiday break from school.**


	86. Rebel

**Life as A Fox**

**Chapter 85**

**NSW- The Forsaken Author.**

* * *

She stopped as she overlooked the battle before her. Once again her kin charged in reckless and uncaring of their own lives as they threw themselves before their enemy. Taking the full brute of the battle. While the humans waited on the edge of the field.

Her nostrils flared as a sudden emotion filled her, like a lot of things this one was new to her, but one that had been happening to her for a while. She growled as a heat built-in her chest and a cold built-in her stomach. How dare the humans use them as shields! We are more than that! We may not have a place in this world, but that didn't mean they must live to die like this!

She had figured out that they Lumenion were not like any creature she had come to see. Nothing looked like them, they were different, so very different and strange, they did not have body shapes like others that looked so...natural, so right...so...balanced?

She turned from battle, tearing her eyes away from it. She must find the answers her heart and mind were looking for. As she walked away the three others followed her. She turned gazing at them, they stopped and looked to her. Something clicked in her head, a language that was hidden but came to life inside her.

"What are you doing?" she asked. Realization hit them and filtered across their features as well. The male closest to her, one whose eyes she found strangely mesmerizing and who's voice she liked to hear spoke next. "We follow you" he said simply "Why?" she asked them.

He glanced to the others "Because you are the only one willing to lead." She stood there looking into his eyes then after a bit she nodded "Very well, we must go ask the human that our ancestors made a pact with, ask him why we do this for him, why we serve, why we must die."

They nodded and followed after her. Inside her bosom she felt a small feeling of confidence grow. A sense of instillment and power, the feeling of having the veneration of others. She walked up the hill towards the humans who waited.

* * *

There were some murmurings among some of them as they walked through their numbers. Till at last they came into view of the man they served, the man they swore to and the man they died for. She cast her eyes down as her and her followers stopped in front of him.

He turned to them as if just noticing. "Ah, the creations, why are you here? Your duty is to the line" She cast her eyes upwards. Few Lumenion of the new generations spoke to the humans. So the humans were surprised to hear her. She spoke only because the same sense of knowing had come upon her.

She didn't know how to explain it, she just knew the language, and it fell easy from her lips as she spoke. "We are uneasy great prophet." The man, whose face had the exact impression of a human hand scarred on one side of his face. He stood silent for a moment, his eyes widening only little as she spoke.

He with a grunt turned to them, giving his full attention. "We?" he simply stated. Asking for further explanation. She turned her head to the others then back. "We are a different generation from our ancestors, they have all passed and did not tell us the reasons why we join with you, why we fight, and why we die, we wish to know...why is it that we must sacrifice ourselves so much?"

The prophet glanced about to his generals and others, she followed him with her eyes, he was greatly unsettled about something. "Is this the entire thought of your race, or just certain few?" She hesitated before answering, "It is us few, the others...their minds still race with thought of blood and war."

There was a deafening silence, she could feel it weigh heavy on the air around them. He spoke once more "And you...you do not?" she shook her head. Her ears picked up the whispered murmurings as humans grumbled and spoke to one another.

She felt an unease shift through her once more. She glanced to her followers. The prophet spoke "Interesting, I wonder what brought this...thinking...hnmmm" But a chilly voice swept through the area, and the men parted to reveal a woman. Her nostrils curled at the scent of this woman, something was not right, something was unsafe about this woman.

The woman stepped forward, all around her the men bowed their heads in respect or was it fear? She commanded much of it either way. A horn blare went up and there was a sudden sea of movement as the men went out to battle. The generals barked orders and the sounds of weapons being pulled from sheaths and armor being clipped into proper place as well as the many foot falls of them as they walked to what could be their own deaths.

But without fear and without emotion they walked, they were stead fast in their decision, for even fools have courage. When all had passed and gone the woman looked to them. "You speak now?" she asked, which was odd, they had spoken before didn't they?" she nodded "yes, lady" she said bowing her head slightly.

The woman hummed "interesting, they have made progress...small...but progress, but how?" Then she widened her eyes as an idea came to her head "Of course...asexual reproduction, they grow so fast, it is only know their minds have started to catch up...almost as if evolving, could it be?"

The woman spoke "Come here" she commanded. Stepping forward she did so. The woman stepped forward "When did you start understanding us humans?" She glanced away "Always we have, otherwise commands, how would we follow?" The woman nodded, her nostrils pinching slightly.

"When did you begin to speak our language?" This was when she was unsure of what to say. "Words...words were lost from the ancient ones, only they who swore loyalty first, the first of our kinds, they knew the language, lost it was in speaking until now." The woman narrowed her eyes, trying to understand her.

"So you are saying, that the ones who knew how to speak our language were the first Lumenion, and until now you have only been able to understand us, but not speak with us is that correct?" She nodded it was mostly correct. "What do you think of it?" The prophet asked.

"They are learning...evolving even, they are starting to form their own thoughts, at least these few are." Said the woman turning to the prophet. "What does this mean?" he asked her. "I would ask you the same, this is somewhat of a problem, they swore to obey without question, but now...they know how to question, these are not the same."

Then the two humans stepped away so none of the waiting Lumenion could hear them. After a few lines shared back and forth between the two of them, the woman turned back to the Lumenion. "You four, come with me." The Lumenion exchanged puzzled looks but did so.

She was un-easy, something felt wrong, something bad was going to happen, but she ignored it. They were led to the woman's tent, where her offspring was in the corner doing some strange human thing. Marking bright colors upon a flat blank sheet. The woman turned to them.

"So your question from before, 'why do you fight?' it is simple, you fight in a noble and just cause, you were created for only one purpose on this world...to destroy demons." The woman held an icy gaze with them, the others bowed their heads unable to stand up to such a piercing gaze.

But she, she was different. "But it is not us who is destroying them, they are destroying us, we can not stand up to their numbers, their diversity, or skills, we are unable to combat them!" The woman snorted in anger. She quickly crossed the span between them. She saw the small blade in time to flinch.

The blade cut her along the side of her head, just left of her eye. She stared up in bewilderment. "You will not speak with such insolence to me! Your ancestors swore to fight without question and obey us humans! You were built for this sole purpose! This is all you will ever be for! So stop complaining and get out there and fight!"

The words came out of her mouth before she could stop them "But we are not our ancestors! They were not born into this! They did not live it day in and out! This is...this is not right! An entire species should not be used to wipe out another! An entire species should not be under the command of another! We are but slaves before you! We die in place of you, you do not respect us or give us any help, you treat us as creatures that do not belong!"

At first she was sure the human would stab her again, the way the nostrils flared, they eyes burned and body shook in anger, but then she calmed. unnerving she laughed. "Well, well, this really is interesting, apparently you think you do have a place in this world." She turned and walked over to her offspring, stroking the soft cheek as she spoke.

"You are wrong, that is exactly what you are, you were given to us by the god of humans, to serve humans, and to vanquish demons, that is what you were created and commanded to do, and yet the stupidity of your race can't even follow that simple order, pathetic." She shook her head, no this could not be?

She glanced to the others, they too were fighting inside emotions, why did they have to live such cursed lives? Their only goal in life was to kill? To serve? To be slaves? What god would condemn his creations to this? After some while she glanced up "If we were to not do as ordered, if we were to question, what would become of us?"

The woman looked to her "Create a rebellion? Interesting enough, but at the moment something we cannot have done, it is simple, I will dispose of you." She shook her head "You...would kill us?" The woman nodded "You are but four, there are many enough who seem to not share your ideas, I must cut your rebellious lineage off before you bear fruit to more pathetic Lumenion who have no idea what to do, a race of lost idiots, would be amusing to watch, but not something we could afford."

Anger tore up through her. She bared her fangs, her ears laying back, the only time she felt this way was in battle, but this time something more was inside her, she felt the need to protect something, to keep it safe, to make sure nothing or no body took it from her or harmed it.

The woman stepped back surprised, the child whimpered and clutched at her. "You will not kill us! We are not a race of idiots neither are we a lost race! There are few of us who question now, but give it time and soon all of us will question, all of us will ask why it is you we serve! You are the humans who are fighting other humans! Tell me why is it you are killing your own kind!? It is unnatural!"

She continued her anger rising, her voice building. "We Lumenion whose thoughts are still muddled may kill our own kind, but we whose minds have been cleared know this is not right, yet you, who say have clearer minds then we, still kill each other! Tell me then who is the better race? If you ask me you are the ones who are lost! You are the one who is an idiot! If it is a rebellion you want...well a rebellion you will get!"

With that she turned and raced out of the tent, her followers running steadily behind her. She felt so..strong right now, her veins were singing with an unknown strength, humming and alive she ran. As if only know she was aware of her heart beating, and her limbs falling upon the earth.

Her body flexed and surged, pounding into the earth and she knew, she knew that she was no longer a slave. She was a... Rebel, no, she _was_ Rebel, the first Lumenion to question, and she would not be done asking.

* * *

They paused in the trees, looking out at the lost ones of their kind, still sacrificing themselves for the humans. Rebel glanced to the male beside her. They glanced to each other. "What now?" asked the male. She turned to him. "I do not know, but we must keep moving." He nodded. "But to where?" "That I am unsure of, but there must be somewhere in this world for us."

But then again, what if the woman was right, what if they really had no place other than where they had been. Already the strength she had found was waning, now she was uncertain and she must admit afraid. Could they find somewhere to live? Would they make it? Where they even allowed to live on this earth in the first place?

She shook herself, she had to get a hold of herself, the others looked to her to lead them. The others would follow her. Right now she had to think small, plan ahead only enough to survive, that was what they must do survive. She spoke, "First we must find a place to be safe, somewhere away from this fighting."

They nodded and followed her, after sometime when the din and noise of the fighting had long been swept away she paused. Looking to the three followers she spoke. "It is time we make names for ourselves, I choose the name Rebel, for that is who I am." The others confusedly glanced to each other, never had they thought about naming themselves, they had no need for names, at least they didn't need to before, but now they would.

Still, no Lumenion ever thought about themselves as a single entity, and if they did it was a very new way of thinking and one not yet exercised to its proper ability. The male who she found striking spoke next. "Names, for ourselves, why?" he asked. She spoke softly "So then if I were to speak only to you, I would know what to call you."

He paused and then he was silent as he thought. "I followed you first, my name should be One-who-Follows" She nodded it was a good name, at least from what she could judge. "What about you?" she said turning to the others, the female spoke. "My name shall be One-who-Vanquishs, for I am a very strong Lumenion and have beaten many."

Rebel nodded this was good, she turned to the last male. He spoke slowly "Free-one, for I am free." Rebel shivered, that was right, they were free. They did not follow no one's commands. "What next Rebel?" asked One-Who-Follow's she paused. "There are some questions that I still have, many of them, like why humans are fighting humans, and what really are these demons, why were we created to destroy them, is their reasoning more than hate?"

They nodded, Free-one spoke up "I too would like to know this, but...how would we get these answered?" She turned her head "What if, we could talk to one of them?" "One of who?" asked One-Who-Vanquishs. "One of the demons, perhaps, if we come to them in unthreatening ways they will not harm us?"

The others were unsure, "But what if they don't want to answer our questions, what if they kill us on sight?" She weighed these around in her mind, these were possibilities, possibilities that she wouldn't blame for happening. They had valid support for such things, but something told her to risk it, to try it, they had to do at least that.

She spoke "I will go alone then, if I do not return, run and find a place to live, somewhere safe a place of haven for those like us." They nodded even though she noticed that One-Who-Follows looked pained at such thought. She turned and headed back towards the humans, but this time she headed for the humans that lived with demons.

It wasn't long though, she heard the padded falls of those behind her, she turned. She stopped "I told you to stay!" They shook their heads "We follow you, we too what these questions answered, we are...we are...clan, Clan-of-those-who-wish-to-be-Free" She paused staring at Free-one. Then she felt a small happiness build inside her.

"Thank-you, for not letting me go alone." One-Who-Follows stepped up next to her. "You never will be, I am One-Who-Follows, with me, you will never be alone." She couldn't describe it, but a feeling shot through her, she felt a closer kinship to him more than any other. A bond of trust, a bond of...what ever it was she knew that strong, scary strong, but she also knew it was good.

The Clan-of-those-who-wish-to-be-Free waited, and waited, until darkness started to take the land once more. A group of humans was bringing in some wounded, their fellows leaning on others shoulders for support. They all looked tired and weary but still strong, a vibrance shining through them. Still hidden by the pile of downed trees Rebel spoke in human.

"Please stop, I wish to speak." The humans jolted and froze, they looked about, some bringing weapons to hand. Rebel shuddered maybe this wasn't a good idea? She shook her head, no it was, she had to have...faith, believe in herself. "I mean you no harm, though I will admit, I am one who you would call an enemy, but an enemy I do not wish to remain."

The humans glanced at each other, they had figured out where she was, they faced her direction. She spoke, "I will reveal myself, but ask you do not attack, can you promise this?" After some hesitation one spoke up "How can we know this isn't a trick?" She paused she couldn't promise it wasn't. She sighed "I can't, I can only give you my word, take it for what you will."

After some muttering one spoke up "I will not attack unless you give me reason." She sighed "Very well" She rose slowly. The men's eyes widened and stared at her in dismay as they saw her. Even in the dying light it was easy to tell what she was, a Lumenion. But once more she spoke "I know I am an enemy, but I must speak with you."

It was just the weirdness of her talking that halted them from attacking. "I am what you call a Lumenion, I will not lie, I have fought you before, but in my own defense, I wish to say it was not by my choice." The men glanced at each other, so...frank she was with them. She continued "My name is Rebel, I am...the leader of the Clan-of-those-who-wish-to-be-free."

They stared at each other. She waited for them to speak next. One spoke "so...Rebel..it was, what do you wish to speak about?" She paused, she didn't think it would work so well. She actually was unsure of how to ask what she wanted. "I...well, it is hard for me to say, but I shall just say what is on my mind...some of us Lumenion...have doubts."

The men glanced to each other "Doubts...about what?" one asked finally. "Doubts, about our place in this world, doubts about the humans we served, we are four who escaped them." "Wait...escaped?" One asked suddenly. She hesitated then nodded "Yes, when we questioned the woman and the prophet...they were going to kill us."

She turned her head to reveal the scar the woman gave her. "All of you? All of the Lumenion?" She shook her head "no...no, not all os us, it is only us few who doubt, the others...they are...exactly what those humans want, they do not question or think, they only do as commanded."

There was a silence then the humans turned and talked with one another, casting glanced over to her. "You said 'we' where is the others" Then with that, One-Who-Follows, One-Who-Vanquishs, and Free-One revealed themselves. "This is One-Who-Follows" she said nodding to him, he gave a curt nod as he stood tense next to her.

Rebel turned her head to One-Who-Vanquishs, "This is One-Who-Vanquishs" She did nothing, she only kept her calm stare at the humans. "Finally, this is Free-One." Free-One bowed his head and wagged his tail slightly. The men glanced at each other. This was strange and confusing and of course unprecedented.

One spoke finally, "So, all you wish is to speak?" she nodded "We have questions, and we need answers" the human male nodded "Very well...would you be willing to surrender yourselves?" Rebel flicked her ears, she was uncertain of this new word, what did it mean? "What does that mean for us?" "It means, you would...well...give up to us, we would take you into Konoha, under guard of course."

She looked to the others uncertain, it was a risk, to leave themselves open and unprotected to their once enemy, there was no telling what could happen. But she put her faith in it. She took a deep breath "No harm would come to us?" The men shuffled about "We can't promise to protect you from a demon with a grudge or anything, but we would not harm you unless you harm us first."

She nodded this seemed fair. "You went at a risk to speak to me, I will go at a risk to speak to you, I surrender myself to you." The men nodded and stepped forward, she turned to the others. With hesitance and some stiffness in their form they nodded and stood next to her, they too followed her into surrendering, though they did not like it.

The men formed a circle around them and they walked in the dimming light towards the high walls of the place called Konoha. She felt a sense of dread, it seemed ominous and foreboding to be walking nearer and nearer to such a place. But she placed trust in these humans, she needed her questions answered, and only inside those walls would she find them.

* * *

At first glance, it looked like a group of wolf demons were traveling with a group of men, one of the last ones to be coming off the field, but on closer inspection they noticed that it was not so. Sentries gave alert and warning ahead of time by the time the group of men and the curious Lumenion were at the front gate, Naruto, Kakashi, Bee, Gaara and other generals both demon and human were lined up, as well as any other interested soul.

The group of men spanned out, in a protective ring about the Lumenion, who looked out with the peculiar look of...fear and submission. It was because of this that no demon attacked out right. It was in their primitive nature to not attack something that was submissive. Their long ragged tails tucked between there long ungainly limbs, their slight frames hunched, sharp muzzles cast towards the ground.

The men spoke "Four Lumenion have surrendered." Kakashi spoke after a loud murmuring went through all gathered. "What is your name?" he said to the man. "Sati sir" Kakashi nodded "Well then Sati, tell me when did we start taking prisoners?" Sati paused, unsure. "I didn't...I.." He went silent, unable to answer for his actions.

Kakashi shook his head then glanced to the Lumenion. "What are we to do with them? What were you thinking? How can you tell if they were surrendering or not? Did they speak to you?" "We did" said one in the front, a female voice, sharp and harsh, a voice that would fit perfectly in a nightmarish dream, whispering in a dull roar.

Kakashi froze he glanced to where the eerie voice had emanated from, with their elongated throats, their vocal cords were stretched and thin, so their voices were sharper and higher, and their words had an effect of a bird's voice. Blending into each other and flowing in a melodious way. However the melody that sang from their lips was a strange one, an offset and sharp pitch, which enhanced to the eeriness of the voice.

"My name is Rebel, I lead the Clan-of-those-who-wish-to-be-free." There was a stunned silence as the Lumenion continued to speak, blowing away everyone's train of thought for a second, it was surreal, exotic and strange, and yet none could fathom how it happened. Finally Kakashi recovered from the shock.

"Can all Lumenion speak?" Rebel shook her head. "No, we are the first, We four stand apart from the rest of our kin." A silence descended once more, as demons and humans looked to Kakashi. Kakashi glanced around him, all were waiting for him. He took his time, he finally spoke. "Why have you come here?"

Rebel cocked her head "What do you mean?" she asked. "I mean, why have you four come here? Why not stay with the rest of your kind?" She shook her head "Welcome, we are not, forced to flee, because we questioned." Kakashi glanced to Naruto. Naruto spoke quietly to him "If I may?" he asked.

Kakashi nodded. Naruto stepped forward "My name is Wolfheart, I have many names, and hold many positions in this village, since you came here peacefully I will speak with you, although I will say I still house a disdain for your kind." Rebel nodded "Understanding is what we share then Wolfheart."

Naruto nodded he stepped forward "Why were you forced to flee? Does this mean you are no longer one of them?" Rebel stood, confusion on her features. "We are still Lumenion, but not of those you could count as your enemy, we no longer wish to fight if that is what you mean."

Naruto paused it was hard to understand exactly what she meant. "So, you are saying, you have left them?" She nodded "We had no choice, they would kill us if we stayed." Naruto stood unsure of what to do, he felt pity for them, but then again they were enemy, and there still was the slim chance that this could be a trap.

He closed his eyes, "Answer this question, depending on the answer I will either trust you or I will give you a head start on running for your life, why have you come here?" There was a long pregnant silence, that hovered and suspended in the air for who knows how long, until finally Rebel spoke, "We had nowhere else to go."

Naruto looked into those strange eyes, pure white, he didn't know how he could tell but he could, she was not lying, she spoke the truth, this fragile, delicate creature, so strange and unnatural looking, appealed to him. In a way she was like any other demon, misunderstood and met with hatred. He felt a sickness grow in his stomach, in a way he had become just like other hateful humans, he judged them without thinking, he did not think that any Lumenion could be good, that they could not feel or have emotion, that they were mindless murderers.

But these four, they were different, and even though the whole of their race was tainted and lost, these four...they could be saved, they could be trusted. He relaxed and pulled himself from his thoughts. "Well, I don't know about others here, but you do not have to fear harm from me." Rebel nodded "Thank-you, your words provide comfort."

She turned her head "I know what our kind has done to you all, I know what you must feel, I do not blame you for housing such feelings for us, but do not judge us four on the whole of our kind, we are...we are a young race, new to this world, and it's ways, we have much to learn, we have made mistakes and will keep making them, but I wish to learn from my own."

This put many at ease, hearing this very simple yet powerful sentence from her. She spoke truthfully and in a way, that made you feel her regret, her confusion, and the lost feeling she felt. Gaara spoke next. "What are your names?" Rebel turned to the slightly taller Lumenion beside her, "This is One-Who-Follows"

The Lumenion nodded "Thank-you for listening to Rebel" he said revealing that he was in fact a male. "My name is One-Who-Vanguishs" said the other female stepping forward, her eyes sharper than Rebels. "I am Free-One" said the last, a male that had a softer voice and was shorter than One-Who-Vanquishs.

Gaara nodded "Those...are very nice names" he commented. Rebel nodded "We named ourselves, we are the only Lumenion who have names to each other." Gaara glanced to Kakashi. There was a silence, no one knew what to do. Then a creature shoved his way to the front, it was Gomeg. He turned his head to Naruto.

"I suggest we move somewhere else? The injured would like to get fixed, un less you want them to bleed to death?" Gomegs statement snapped everyone out of their daze and everyone began to move out-of-the-way for the injuries to limp or be dragged through. Naruto turned to the Lumenion. "Follow us, we will take you to a place to speak."

In silence they moved forward, an area opened up around them, no one wanted to get to close to them. Even though they probably would not harm anyone, they still were strange-looking and intimidating. Naruto, Kakashi, Bee, Gaara and the other generals led the Lumenion into a building. The humans sat in chairs behind a table, while the demons and Lumenion stood waiting.

"Rebel is was right?" Kakashi asked. She nodded "What do you plan on doing?" She looked to her kin. Then back to him "I am unsure, we will try to find a place to live in safety, where no humans would try to command us and control us, but I came here first to ask questions, for I have many, and they need answering."

Kakashi glanced to Naruto and the others "Depending on the question we can answer them" Rebel nodded "Then answer this, what are demons, and why do we fight them?" Naruto stared at her. "You..mean...you don't know?" She glanced to him "To many things have been told to me, that I can no longer make sense of it all."

Naruto nodded that seemed reasonable. "Well tell me what you thing we are?" She hesitated. "But...I do not want to...make you angry, my words could do so." Naruto smirked "You won't offend me, please I want to know." Rebel hesitated then spoke "The prophet told us, that demons were bad, and unnatural, but...I have had my doubts about such words."

Kakashi interrupted "Why?" Rebel turned to him "I had noticed, out on the battle field, that...we are the ones unnatural, demons...you Wolfheart, you were built for this world, your limbs and abilities flow with it, we...we do not, we stand out from it, we are strange to this world and we do not flow with it, I have come to think that we are the unnatural ones."

One-Who-Follows gasped. "Rebel..is that true? Do you think that you are the bad one?" She nodded "It has to be, have you seen any others of our kind on this world? We are the only ones, have you seen others built and shaped like us? Who act like us? No, you do not." Free-One spoke "But we are not like the other kin, we are different from them, so if our kin are bad, and we are different from them, then we must be good right?"

One-Who-Vanquish spoke next "Or, is it possible we are neither?" "Can we be that, between both? Neither good or bad?" Naruto spoke before they could continue "Yes, it is possible, in fact that is how most things in this world are, everything has goodness in them and everything has badness, it's how you act upon it that dictates who you are."

Rebel nodded "thank-you for making our thoughts...not as muddled." Rebel spoke "So if all have good and bad in them, how do we know if we are fighting for whats good and whats bad?" Kakashi spoke "For a primitive race you sure have deep questions, even we don't always know, we just go by what our heart tells us."

One-Who-Follows spoke "Heart...that is the thump-thump here right?" he said bringing up one of his long limbs to his chest. Kakashi nodded "yes it is, but not the physical heart, your inner heart." Rebel and the others stared at him blankly. "That one might be above them" Gaara muttered to him. Kakashi nodded in agreement, it was so hard!

They were both smart...and not so smart at the same time, very vexing for anyone to talk to. "We then wish to ask, why do some humans fight with demons and others do not?" Kakashi sighed "It goes back to the good and bad thing, some humans like us, like demons, we trust them and build bonds with them, cherish them even, and other humans, well...they do not."

Rebel nodded "I understand then, I do not have the answers I had originally thought I would get, but I do have something, I thank-you for your words, I am sorry that we did not give any in return." Naruto shook his head "no, it's fine, we are happy though, you revealed to us that not all Lumenion are bad, that you...have a chance, as a species to not be lost."

Rebel stared at him for a long while, then she nodded, "Thank-you, my fear was that we would never belong, but now you give me hope, that someday we will find a place where we will and we will prosper." She turned away "We will go now and find such place." Kakashi spoke "Wait, please we have some questions of our own, we...well, I don't know how to ask, but could we use you for a bit?"

Rebel glanced to him "Use us how?" "We wanted to know if you could help us, you see...your saliva, it...well has undesirable affects, we thought if we had a sample, we could somehow come up with a cure for it." Rebel looked to the others, "if we did this would help undo some of the wrongs we have done?"

Kakashi nodded "It would help a lot, only if you want to of course." Rebel after a long moment spoke "If you want us, we will stay." Kakashi sighed relief, "Very well, come let us go to the medical tents." So with that humans and demons and Lumenion alike walked the streets of Konoha together.

* * *

**NSW**


	87. Stalemate

**Life as A Fox**

**Chapter 86**

**NSW- The Forsaken Author.**

* * *

This place was strange, so very strange, the humans lived in much different homes then the ones she had served, these homes were made of stone, not fabric, and they rose up towering over them. It made her feel small and insignificant. There were many smells and sights, so many humans and demons about, but of course most stayed a courteous distance away from them, except for the demon Wolfheart and the leaders of the humans.

"It seems as though you still have much disdain for us." Wolfheart, who was shorter then her but much broader spoke "It is a hard thing to get used to, just as it is hard for you to be here." She nodded "You r humans are different from the humans we served, they lived in dens of fabric, these humans live in such large places of stone, how would one make such places, where do you get stone large enough?"

Wolfheart chuckled it was an interesting sound, one she had never tried, why would one make such a noise. "They are not all stone, most are wooden, and the stone is a concrete, which was once in a liquid type form then dried and hardened into stone." Rebel studied the homes closely, "Interesting...what is wood?"

The leader...Kakashi spoke "Wood is trees, you cut trees into various shapes and are able to build things with it." Rebel gazed at him in interest. "Trees, ah yes I understand now-" She was cut off as another creature showed itself, it looked like her, only smaller, a lot smaller then Wolfheart but had the same, muzzle and shape, yet it seemed...dum, as if it couldn't speak, its voice was just a shrill loud..bark, and its ears...were floppy?

She jumped back, hair on end, she remembered now, a couple of these creatures were on the battlefield, what were they! The creature strained against an object placed around its neck, its fangs bared and it bristled as it lunged at them. She stepped back, One-Who-Follows stepped forward and growled, protecting her.

Wolfheart intervened and calmed the creature, she had no idea how but he did. She and One-Who-Follows relaxed. "What are those things?" she asked Wofheart "Dogs, they are...domesticated animals." She cocked her head "What is an animal?" He stared at her "Its...well...the world is filled with them, they look like any one of us demons, only...they can't speak, and they don't have powers, they are just...there...and they are not as smart as you or I."

She shook her head "This world is so strange" "Why do you keep saying that, do you come from another?" She turned to the red-haired human, with black around his eyes, so stunning and piercing. "Another world...no, the first of our kind...we were created...a god crafted us with his own hands...at least that is what the prophet says."

Kakashi sighed "You know, that man is getting annoying, I wish I could just kill the bastard, end this whole thing." She glanced to him "It would be hard, he is touched by the gods, they speak through him and hold him in regard, fate is on his side he says." Wolfheart spoke suddenly "Fate is what you make it, it can always change."

She turned to him, at first to question but in his eyes she saw a knowing, a power and she did not question it any longer. "So you were made by a god...do you remember seeing him?" She shook her head "no, the first ones were made by them, the ancients of our kind." There was a silence "But...the war has been only been going for about a month or so...that isn't to long ago."

She nodded "yes it is, I myself have only been in this world for about five bright orb passes." Wolfheart stared at her then glanced to his human leaders. "Bright orb...you mean the sun?" She hesitated "the bright orb in the sky...that is the sun?" Wolfheart nodded. "Yes, five of those." The darker human with black things over his eyes spoke "So..you are only five days old?"

She nodded "Yes, we Lumenion grow to adult hood in a...day or so." The man made a curious noise by pressing his lips together, it sounded like one of those small creatures that flew about in the forest. "So...how are you born?" She quirked her head "we split from our parent when we are grown enough."

The human Kakashi scratched his head "so...wait...you split...like...you grew on them?" She nodded "yes, if we eat plenty, we can birth more of ourselves from our own skin, is this not how you create more of yourselves?" There was a silence. "Ah...no" Wolfheart said at last. "We...have another method...but...to each his own...I guess...but I am just confused as to why...there is males and females of your race...if you reproduce...in that way."

She glanced to One-Who-Follows, "Why would it matter, what does being male and female have to do with reproduction?" said Free-one. Another silence passed by. "Umm...I don't know about you guys, but I don't really want to explain the birds and the bees at this particular moment, how about we save this for another time?" said the red-haired one...Gaara, that was his name.

Kakashi nodded "agreed...lets just say...Free-one, that it's a long story, but...I...well lets just do what we set out to do, to the medic tents." Rebel nodded and followed.

* * *

"I need you to bite down on this." said the peculiar demon. He was a smaller demon, aged greatly and he had eyes like them, which was probably the reason she was so relaxed around him. She opened her mouth and pit on the piece of wood. She sat there unsure of why she was doing this, but then she realized with her mouth this way her saliva pooled out through the sides of her mouth.

The demon then collected it in...these see through containers that held her kin in much interest. They stared at these objects, these humans had so many! Free-One was staring into the strange object that was so shiny you could see yourself in it, it was so strange it frightened her at first, she thought another Lumenion had been trapped in its depths.

But Wolfheart had explained to them that it was a thing called a 'mirror' and that it was her own self she was looking it. One-Who-Follows had found some white thin strips of a soft fabric, there was a lot of it, wrapped up on itself. It was much fun to watch it roll around, but the demon had turned away from her and snapped at One-Who-Follows to 'stop messing up his bandages' One-Who-Follows instantly did.

This demon could be scary at times. After the demon had collected enough of her saliva she could stop biting the stick, which she was happy to do. Her jaw ached, she opened and closed it to ease it. The demon turned "I should check that cut" She glanced at him "What cut-" Then she remembered and hesitated shaking her head.

"It is fine, no pain I feel" the demon raised up an aged hand with equally aged gnarled claws. "I insist, it is no bother, besides we don't want an infection now do we?" She sighed in defeat and nodded. He leaned forward, his power emanating from his claws. The moment they touched her a searing pain broke through her.

She howled in agony as he body convulsed upon itself. Pain tearing through every limb, feeling as though she were being pulled apart from the inside. He pulled away, but the pain still stayed. She collapsed on the ground writhing. One-Who-Follows was on his feet putting himself between her and the demon, growling at the small creature.

One-Who-Vanquishs and Free-One were also on their feet bristling at the demon. Wolfheart at the commotion came into the tent. He saw her then saw what was happening. He spoke before a fight could break out. "What happened!" he yelled. One-Who-Folloes spoke "He hurt Rebel!" "I was merely trying to heal her wound, when I touched it with my chakra...she had a bad reaction to it."

Rebel spoke with effort. "I...I am fine, he meant no harm, he speaks...right...please my kin...do not be angry with him." They relaxed, the tension easing. The humans came in quickly, they too had heard the commotion. Rebel staggered to her shaking feet. One-Who-Follows stepped nearer to her and offered her a stable base to lean against.

She took it gladly and spoke "I...will be fine, I...don't understand what happened." "What did happen?" Kakashi asked. "Apparently...Lumenion are affected by our chakra directly, like we are affected by their saliva." "Are you sure?" the demon nodded. Rebel spoke "Do it once more, show them" She braced herself for the pain.

One-Who-Follows growled but she glared at him. "We must show them, calm yourself One-Who-Follows, why must you be so protective of me?" One-Who-Follows glanced away "I...you are our leader, I follow you so I must protect you." She shook her head he was so strange, and yet she found herself softening to him yet again.

The demon spoke "shall we?" She nodded and stepped forward, the demon reached out his paw once more than she was hit again with pain, that doubled her over and made her collapse. One-Who-Follows leaned over trying to comfort her or ease her pain in some way. Wolfheart spoke "What does it mean Gomeg?" Gomeg turned to him and spoke.

"It means we have a better way to fight them." One-Who-Vanquishs growled. Gomeg glanced to her. "I meant not you, the others of your kind. She softened "oh...right...I am..." she was at a loss for the words before Wolfheart prompted her. "Sorry?" he said. She nodded "yes, that word...it works, I am sorry for growling."

Free-One spoke "I too, sorry for that." Rebel glared at One-Who-Follows. He glanced away then after a moment he said "I am...sorry" in a defeated manner. Rebel nodded good then rose once more. Gomeg spoke "On the table is the samples, take them to Sakura, she is the best at creating antidotes."

Kakashi nodded and took them. Wolfheart turned to them, "Now what?" he asked them. Rebel shrugged, "Leaving I guess" she said. "Do you want to?" he asked them. Rebel hesitated "We have to" "You don't have to do anything, I don't think you understand what being free is."

She cocked her head at the white demon with blue eyes, so clear, although the one seemed faded in a small way, where an ugly scar crossed over it. "What do you mean?" she asked. "Being free means you decide what your fate will be, you make your own happiness and your own sadness by the choices you make, are you leaving because you want to, or because you think that's what you must do."

She hesitated "But...we...were enemies, our kin still are your enemies, you will always judge us for them." Wolfheart shook his head "no, thats exactly why I want you to stay, to teach you, that we in Konoha do not judge, at least we don't try to, it's not right for us, everything in this world, old or new has a place in it, and even if a person has been trained or created for one thing, that person has its own will and can carve their own destiny they want, regardless of what they are supposed to do."

She shivered, this demon, his words were so powerful. "I...I...you know so much about this world, about being free, and fighting destiny and fate, you must have lived a hard life before." The demon did something unique, he bared his fangs...but in a good way, his eyes lighting up in a soft vibrance.

"You don't know the half of it, but yes, I can admit, I know what it's like to be judged, and I know how you feel, but I also know what it's like when you can find a place where you can be yourself and be judged not by what you are, or where you come from, but from the actions and things that you do."

She folded her ears back "But I have fought some of you, I helped injured and hurt some of your kind, maybe even kill, you have no right to offer me...a place where I can be accepted." Wolfheart sighed "That may be, but, the thing is, do you feel bad for doing such things, if you could go back would you change it?"

She nodded "Of course, is there a way?" He shook his head "no, there is not, but, by realizing this now, you have helped changed the life you will live in the future." She stared at him, she never thought about the future, it was so far off and unclear, she didn't even know if she had one.

He spoke "At least stay for the rest of the war, we could use your knowledge." She scoffed "We have little knowledge, we are primitive beings remember?" He shook his head "You are only as primitive as you think, it's like I said, it's how YOU feel about yourself, it's what YOU think about yourself, and plus, you are the only Lumenion who called out on the prophet, you had the courage to question, even though it went against your nature, you are not primitive, you are not dumb, you are intelligent creatures, and you do deserve a chance to save your race and change yourselves."

She nodded "Thank-you...so much Wolfheart, your words have brought me much peace, I will stay, and I will help you in what ways I can, we all will." The others nodded. One-Who-Vanquishs spoke "I remember the humans saying that, they are losing too many numbers, that from now on the Lumenion will be out first, and that the Lumenion will not hold back."

Wolfheart nodded "Good, now we know their plans...in a way, come the generals are planning tomorrows plans, you can tell us of what you know there." They followed him once more through the village, the way lighted up by the numerous fires of ninja's fires. Rebel paused when she smelled something...something that made her mouth water and her stomach give a tremendous growl.

Wolfheart turned "Are you hungry?" he asked them. She glanced at him "I am unsure..." He paused "Do you not know what hunger is?" "Is it a pain in the insides?" asked Free-One. "Yes...don't you...eat?" They glanced at each other unsure of how to say it. Rebel spoke "The others of our kind, when they would sense a weakness in another...unto them,...we devour."

Wolfheart stared at them, "but I have never partaken...nor have I taken any substance, the energies of the day of my first life still run through me." "You haven't eaten since you were...born?" he asked her. She nodded. He shook his head "No, wonder your kind looks so sickly, come on, let's get meat on your bones."

He led them to a large wooden container filled with a pile of red chunks of flesh. She looked at it with a sudden need. She stepped forward and sniffed it. Still unsure of what to do. Wolfheart leaned down and snatched a piece with his jaw. He chewed it and swallowed. She opened her jaw and did the same.

Her kin watched. It was warm and thick in her mouth. Her mind exploded as flavor sprang across her tongue, it was...good, very good, delicious and made her want for more. She swallowed what she had and in a frenzy she went for more, taking as much as she could fit and swallowing it as fast as she could.

Her kin joined and and they to were taken in the same frenzy, food was amazing, and beautiful, why had they not eaten before? But Wolfheart stopped them before to long. He spoke "too much at first, and it will come back out the same way it came in." She paused "It has this ability?"

He made that noise again, that...weird rumbling in his throat. "What is that?" she asked him. "What is what?" "That noise you make, what is it?" "that" he said pausing "That...is a laugh, it is what most do when they find something amusing." She quirked her head "Amusing...you mean it gives you pleasure...why?"

Wolfheart sighed "no not exactly pleasure, it just signals when I am happy." Rebel nodded not really understanding but nodding only to acknowledge that she heard him. "Where to now?" she asked him, without a word he turned and lead them to a large tent. They pushed aside the flaps as they entered and instantly warmth hit her.

She noted that a small fire was going in the place. There was a large table holding many papers on it while many different men surrounded the table. A hawk demon perched on the table, reading something while a claw absently traced what he was reading, marking his spot in the sentence.

"Evening" Wolfheart said. "Evening" most of the men said back without looking up. "I have brought the Lumenion, in hopes that they can help give us intel on the enemy camp." There was a pause as some of the men looked up, awakened from their fervent stupor. "Are you sure...that they can do this?"

Wolfheart nodded "I have faith in them." He turned back to them. Rebel found that she had a lump in her throat, she swallowed it back down. Stepped forward she brought herself to her full height, she would not be intimidated by those war like stares. "I can give you everything you need, in return for one thing."

Wolfheart glanced at her, this was something new, what did she want? Rebel spoke "When the enemy is defeated, let me take whatever of our kin is left, let me talk to them, and let me guide them, like you humans have said, we are a young species, new to this world, we only follow blindly, do not us die out just because we were naïve."

There was a long pregnant silence. Then he hawk demon spoke up "I believe this is only fair, who are we demons to judge a species? It is true you are our enemies, but you have proven that you Lumenion can be good allies as well, so very well I accept your terms, anyone else?"

The hawk said looking to the others. One by one the other humans and demons consented and agreed. "Good then, let's get started" Wolfheart said.

* * *

The next day, from dusk till dawn, they had waited for the first attack, but none came. There was nothing but an uneasy silence, an awkward stalemate between the two lines. Thought they saw smoke from the enemy fires, and heard a occasional screech from a flying Lumenion, nothing happened.

So while everyone remained ready for a fight, many took the time to relax, some demons were even able to meet with their mates for the day. Naruto himself got to finally meet with Yume and his pups, who seemed to be growing so fast! They ran and tumbled around, chasing each other or their tales, nipping, biting, and howling as they play fought in their own little war.

Naruto chuckled as he watched them. Naruto flicked his ears as he heard the sound of someone coming near. He turned his head to see Sasuke, followed by three women, one was pregnant, another had a small three-month old girl on her hip and another had what looked to be a one year old, whom she led by the hand.

Naruto rose. Sasuke grinned at him, "Thought you might want to meet the family, this is Momoko" he said placing a hand on her delicate shoulder. Her skin was light, and looked smooth like moonlight drifting across leaves. Her hair was a dark brown, pulled back in a simple ponytail, she wore a light gray shirt with a dark long skirt that went to her ankles.

Her eyes were angled and gazed softly and with compassion, it was then Naruto knew how Sasuke had changed, it was because of this woman here. The boy she held hands with looked like Sasuke, only with his mothers nose, his chin also jutted out more than Sasuke's, the hair black like a ravens was growing long, and it was then Naruto noted that the child looked like Itachi not Sasuke.

Sasuke leaned down and picked the boy up, "This here is Itachi" Naruto was stunned, he didn't think Sasuke would be able to so easily say that name, but it seemed whatever darkness that name had held over Sasuke was gone. "This is Sektsi, and my daughter Miko, and finally this is Mitsu."

Naruto nodded to each in turn "This is...Fluffy" Sasuke said searching for the name. Naruto nodded "pleased to meet you" Momoko spoke "Sasuke has spoken of you, you saved his life thank-you." Naruto shook his head "no, I only did what was my duty, besides he saved mine as well."

Momoko smiled "That may be, but we are still thankful for returning our husband to us." Naruto paused, he knew Sasuke was happy but he had no idea how he did it, how could he love three people at the same time, and how could they all love him and not be jealous of each other?

Naruto spoke "Oh" he said and turned, he barked, wich brought the pups out of their play and had them racing over to him. "These are my pups, Minato, Gin, and Mashi" he said the pups sat and gazed up at them. Mitsu squealed "Oh! They are so cute!" Naruto grinned "Yes, they are, they get that from their mother."

"They also get there boundless energy from their father, who has not yet introduced me." Naruto turned sheepishly to Yume. "I did not think you were back yet, this is my better half Yume." Yume rolled her eyes and turned to them "This the half of me that I am still trying to work on."

Naruto chuckled and licked her cheek, she beamed up at him and nipped back. "You have three very beautiful children" said Sektsi, who had long black hair and white skin, her eyes were a beautiful striking gray and she stood tall and erect, almost matching Sasuke in height.

The daughter she held had her dark hair but once again had Sasuke's eyes. She cooed and chuckled as she gazed at the world around her. Yume spoke "and you have a beautiful daughter." Sektsi smiled looking down "Yes" she said shuffling the child to another arm "Growing to, I can barely lift the girl anymore, she has her fathers appetite.

Sasuke chuckled "I only have an appetite because you all cook so good." The woman chuckled and Naruto spoke "So how far along are you?" Naruto asked Mitsu, who was a shorter small framed women, she reminded Naruto of a squirrel (only in her behavior) she seemed to have boundless energy, and she did everything in a chipper and happy-go-lucky attitude.

She grinned "six months! I actually waited to have a child, I wanted to focus on my schooling and graduate before having a child." "Oh is that so?" Naruto said "What were you in school for?" "I am a musician" "One of the best I know" Sasuke added "Oh stop it you" she said blushing.

Sasuke spoke "no seriously, she graduated a year early and the top of her class, she is the best at what she plays." Sasuke said. "Which is?" Naruto asked "Oh just piano, flute, cello and taiko drums" Naruto stared at her "That...that is a lot!" She scoffed "no not much, piano is a simple instrument, you just need to get the fingerings, so is cello, and drums? Pfft a two-year old could play what I play, although I guess flute is the most challenging but I practiced and practiced."

Naruto grinned "That's good I would say congratulations are in order. She blushed "thank-you, you know you are so sweet, you should come to the baby shower, its in two weeks!" Naruto paused "well...it would depend...on the war and all." She paused "oh yeah...I forgot about that."

Sasuke laughed. She glared at him "Oi! quiet you, why don't you go out there and finish this thing if you're so good?" Sasuke smiled "I would, and be glad to, but I made a promise to Fluffy to save him some enemies." Naruto grinned "you had better Uchiha" "Now now love, save it for the battlefield, besides you are giving are pups a bad example, they already fight enough as it is."

Naruto glanced down to the pups who were once again rolling over each other. "Now come on, they are just pups, it is in their nature, besides it's practice for when they are older." Yume sighed "men" "I hear ya sister" said Mitsu. Sasuke and Naruto chuckled "So what do you think of it?" Naruto asked.

"Of what? the lack of fighting today, I don't like it, it reminds me of a snake, they are waiting for something, they have something planned and I have no idea what it is." Naruto nodded "just as I figured, but at least we know their numbers are down." Sasuke nodded "yeah, but the Lumenion keep going up, and more demons are being injured each time."

Naruto nodded "I know, but we will pull through, we have something they don't have." "What's that?" Sasuke asked Naruto glanced at all of them around "people worth fighting for."

* * *

**NSW**


	88. What We Can Do

**Life As A Fox**

**Chapter 87**

**NSW**

* * *

Rebel looked to the enemy lines, a tremor of something going down her spine, she could feel it, as though it was carried upon the wind. She could feel their thoughts and harbored feelings, she could sense that something bad was growing out there. She growled baring her teeth, she did not like it.

"Easy girl, save it for the battle" She turned to One-Who-Follows. She softened and relaxed. "I can't help it, something is bad" he sighed "That may be, but something tells me that these human and demons can face it." She glanced to him "How can you be sure? How can you have faith enough in them?"

He glanced to her, "I don't know, it's hard to explain, like a lot of things that have happened to us, it's a feeling in my gut that is telling me." He turned "Just look at them" She turned and did so. "Look at all the demons, bonding together, talking, they are together not just because they have the same beliefs or because they follow a leader who told them to be here, each and every one of them are here because they want to be."

She glanced to him, "But wanting does not always win." "Your right it doesn't, but this is different, all of them, are united together, each one would give his life to another, each one feels pain and sorrow when they lose another." She shook her head "But pain and sorrow would weaken your resolve, why would you keep fighting if you knew you would loose more?"

He glanced to her "Because they know if they didn't fight they would loose all, they would rather lose some now, than loose all later, but the thing is when one dies...it seems as though they get stronger, they don't pine away in defeat and grieve, they fight back with more ferocity, with more strength, which is why I know, they will win."

"I see your point to some degree...but I do not see how a person's death could strengthen you, how dying would be important." "Okay, how about this Rebel, what would you feel if I died?" She froze as her heart stopped beating for a second, she could not imagine, how could she live in a world where he was not there? He had followed her from day one, he protects her and supports her, even cares for her!

She looked into his eyes, she never wanted to lose this sight, she never wanted to forget this, he was the only other like her, well there was Free-One and One-Who-Vanquishes, but neither of them housed the same closeness as he did. She couldn't speak her voice caught in her throat, emotion over whelmed her.

She turned and ran, he yelled out her name. She closed her eyes, how was this possible? This feeling, as though your life could end when another person's did? Why was she so attached to him? Why did she have such feelings? Why was she so reliant on him? Was it a weakness or a strength?

She ran through the streets going into back ally's and places not traveled, until she came to a dead-end. Panting she leaned her head against the stone, getting her strength from it. She heard light padding behind her. He had followed her, of course he had followed her. She turned angry at him, he backed away confused.

She yelled "Why did you do that!Why would you ask me such a thing? Why would you make me feel that...pain, the though of losing...Don't you ever say such things to me again! I could take any other death but yours! So don't make me think about it!" He stepped forward his eyes serious, she who had always been the leader, the strong one, crumbled under that gaze.

She lowered her eyes, he stepped forward again even closer. She glanced up, her heart beating faster at his nearness. He leaned down and tentatively his muzzle pressed against hers. She relaxed as the feeling of being safe overwhelmed her. When he was near everything was okay, nothing bad could happen.

She stepped forward as well, rubbing her muzzle against his cheek and neck, then rubbing her head against his chest. He stood there letting her do it. She could hear the rabid beat of his heart the strength resonating in his chest. She rested her head and just listened for a bit.

"I won't do it" he said at last. "What?" she whispered, "I won't make you think of such things again...I just needed to know." he said "know what?" she asked him turning her head looking into his eyes. "If you felt the same about me, if you thought that the thought of losing me, was just as bad as my thoughts about losing you."

She nodded, her eyes, suddenly wet, wat was wrong with her? Was this natural? He leaned down and looked into her eyes, then his tongue slowly peeked out of his lips, and gracefully it fell upon her cheeks, licking away the evidence. She felt shocks run up and down her spine, as a heat began to build inside of her,

Playfully, with the excitement she licked back, they nudged and butted each other, pressing themselves against each other as they both tried to over power the other. One-Who-Follows finally did, then they lay on the ground next to each other, nipping each others ears and faces.

All the while, the excitement built, and the heat enveloped her, she wanted more, but she didn't understand what. It wasn't until they were rolling around on the ground, wrestling with each other did she know, some sore of instinct overcame her and she knew what she needed and wanted.

She laid on her stomach then, and waited for him. He stood over her, he too finally understanding. She looked into his eyes, it was then on this day, that marked that even the Lumenion could become mated pairs.

* * *

Later that evening, Naruto sat with Kiba, Akamaru was recovering, he slept peacefully as his body healed, he would never be able to go on missions again though, he would be retired and used for breeding most likely, one of his pups of course would be given to Hime, for she would start training her own ninken just as her father did, but of course that wouldn't be for a little while.

Kiba patted his head while he slept "We've been through it all haven't we boy? Well now is your time to rest and relax, you did enough for me already." Naruto nudged him "What are you going to do then? Kiba sighed I have to have a familiar, it is family tradition, plus half my jutsu's need a ninken."

Naruto nodded "So does Akamaru have any brothers or sisters that you will use?" Kiba shook his head "no, I will just go and get a young one, there are many without partners, don't worry it's not uncommon, even our dogs don't last forever, most Inuzaka, go through two to three dogs, but we always stay loyal to each one...it's just hard, they are like people to us, like family."

Naruto nodded I understand-"Wolfheart!" Naruto sighed as Rebel came in, then he jumped to his feet was it an attack? "What? What is it?" She panted "Something...something happened, something beautiful...but confusing, I don't know how to describe it." Wolfheart sighed "I-"What the hell! It's a Lumenion!" Naruto groaned, he forgot, over worried Kiba stayed by Akamaru's side and didn't go out. He became a hermit to the rest of the world.

"There are a few on our side now" Naruto said quietly. "What!" Kiba exclaimed, "how come nobody told me!" he said angrily. Naruto snapped back in anger as well. "If you weren't like an over worried house wife when it came to your dog you would know this!" Kiba stared at him, he didn't have anything to say, he blushed and looked down. "Sorry" he said sheepishly. Naruto shook his head, that wasn't good enough."Don't apologize to me, apologize to Hinata when you get your head out of your ass, she has been here several times, and all you do is completely ignore her and worry about Akamaru."

Kiba groaned and leaned his head against his hands. "I know I know! I can't help it" Naruto rolled his eyes "Well learn, now excuse me" Naruto said turning back to Rebel "You were saying?" "It was amazing" she said. "What?" he asked her. She spoke quickly, "I didn't think we Lumenion can do it, I didn't think such...things existed, that we could feel such things, but we did."

Naruto was staring at her "What happened?" "I don't know" "Well...describe what you did" he said confused. "Well, me and One-Who-Follows were up on the tall...thing" "The wall" Naruto said giving her the correct word. She nodded "yes that, and we got on the subject of death, and he asked me how I would feel if he died."

He nodded not really following what was going on. "And...?" he asked "Well, I was hurt when he asked that, and ran away, but he followed after me, which I was happy he did, because for some odd reason he makes me happy when he is near...and safe, but anyways, I ran into one of those ally ways that end."

Naruto nodded getting the picture, "Then we, kept talking, and we decided that we need each other, that we without the other, life is...not life." Naruto nodded he thought something like this would happen, it was only a matter of time. She interrupted his thoughts. "Then! We touched muzzles! And licked each other! It felt amazing!" Naruto blanched, "Ah, Rebel, I am happy for you and all, but you don't have to tell me this-" "then we were rolling on the ground with each other and his organ went into my-"Rebel!" Naruto yelled embarrassed.

She stopped, afraid for a second from his out burst. He looked to her, his eyes closed. "You...don't have to describe it anymore, I understand what happened." She glanced to the human in the room, he was staring at her, but he had a small smile on his face, that looked like he was trying to cover up. She ignored him and turned back to Wolfheart. "Oh...well what did happen?" she asked.

"You...er..." Naruto glanced to Kiba, who was smirking at him. Naruto glared at him, why was it that he always has to have these kinds of conversations? What did the world have against him?

Naruto spoke, looking deeply into her eyes."You guys have become mates, you love each other" he said serious. She cocked her head. "Love? What is love?" she asked. Naruto sighed, "It is the feeling as though you are floating, every time you see them; it is as if your heart would burst or stop beating when you hear them speak." He drifted off for a moment, then he completed his thought. "It is when everything has gone astray, you know you can trust on them and lean on them no matter what happens; it is when you find a soul that links to yours and you know, you cannot be without them."

She stared at him he described it perfectly, she wished she could be as good with her words as he. "Yes, that is exactly, how I feel about One-Who-Follows, I can trust on him for anything, and he is the only one who can make me happy at times." He nodded and smiled at her "good, then why don't you go be with him now, I am guessing you would like some catching up."

She shook her head "no, no, we joined so many times today, I am so very tired, I need a break from him." He glanced up at the ceiling then closed his eyes, "ah well then." He opened his eyes and glanced around, "Why don't you go find a place to sleep for the night?" He said ushering her out of the tent. She nodded and turned going outside he called out to her "and don't forget to eat!" She turned and nodded "I have already eaten my fill, but thank-you, I shall go."

Naruto sighed as she walked away. He turned back to Kiba, who broke out in a laughter. "Shut-up!" Naruto yelled at him. Kiba snorted. Naruto despite himself laughed at that. He pulled himself next to Kiba, "What am I becoming now? Anbu General, and apparently I am teaching a new species how to live in this world." Kiba nodded "Yeah it seems so, but if anyone can do it, it would be you."

Naruto groaned and exclaimed "Why me?" then he slammed his muzzle into the mattress, burying his head there for a moment.

* * *

Rebel slept peacefully, curled nearby One-Who-Follows, he had found her after a while, and he had nuzzled her then curled up nearby, she relaxed against him as they slept. But she awoke, something was warning her in the back of her mind. She rose, all was quiet, all slept soundly.

She looked into the night, most would not be able to see in such darkness, but she could, Lumenion were very good at seeing at night. Under the cover of darkness she padded up to the wall, her instinct guiding her. She gazed out something was shifting in the far off darkness, as if waking, a terrible and angry beast, finally unfurling in its sleep, and casting its gaze to them.

She shivered, she stayed up there the entire night, nothing had come, and yet she felt like something would be coming, but she seemed to be the only one, the next day, when no enemy came once more, the ninja's grew more lax. So did the demons, they laughed and played games with each other, or had friendly competitions.

One-Who-Follows and the others seemed though to sense her discomfort, they stayed near her the entire day, they too seemed to sense that she was sensing something in the wrong, but what was it? "What are you doing up here?" Wolfheart asked her as she stared down at the populace.

"Do you not sense it? That feeling? That something is watching us? He exhaled "Sometimes, during war, we start sensing or feeling things that aren't always true, it will drive you insane, make you not sleep, make you not eat, all you want to do is worry over it, the Anbu has warned us of this sort of thing, so sometimes it's a good thing to drag your mind from war, let it rest and refresh for a bit, that's what you should do as well."

She sighed, she understood the worth of Wolfheart's words, but she felt that he was wrong, but she didn't want to seem rude to him so she nodded "I understand." He grinned "Good, now relax for the day okay?" She nodded and he turned and padded away, Rebel watched as he went.

She turned back to watching the enemy line, she couldn't help it, but she knew Wolfheart was wrong. She ended up dozing around afternoon time. But she awoke to the sounds of snarls. She snapped awake, when she recognized the voice of One-Who-Follows. She rushed to see him fighting with Wolfheart, a group of demons surrounding them.

She ran down ready to help him but Free-One stopped her "Relax, it's okay, they aren't really fighting" She looked at him "What do you mean! Look they are lunging at each other!" "It's called practice, it's where you fight each other but do not injure the other." She paused, was this true?

She looked around, the demons were not angry, in fact the looked amused. She stepped forward and watched closer. One-Who-Follows paced in a circle staring off with Wolfheart. One-Who-Follows panted as he growled. Wolfheart spoke "tiring already?" One-Who-follows snapped his jaws "never" he said.

She had to admit he could be intimidating when he wanted to be. He lunged at Wolfheart but Wolfheart was quick and easily danced away from One-Who-Follows. She growled she finally understood the competitive nature of things, this want for something else to beat the other.

"Come on One-Who-Follows! Get him!" she roared. He turned and glanced at her, then he gave her a sly grin, something that he started doing recently. She allowed herself to smile back as well, a sense of knowing building between them. Wolfheart attacked next, One-Who-Follows dodged his fangs easily, Lumenion were quite agile.

One-Who-Follows came back by slipping underneath and butting his head into Wolfhearts jaw. Wolfheart grunted as he was knocked back. One-Who-Follows followed up by using his long nimble limbs with their wicked long claws to attack, making Wolfheart give ground. But Wolfheart came back as well.

He barreled forward using his strength, making One-Who-Follows back away. Pushing One-Who-Follows more and more into a corner, he could only dodge the blows not counter attack. One-Who-Follows gritted his fangs, what could he do? He did not have powers like the demons, he could not put up a shield, he only had his saliva, which he did not want to use, because he did not want to harm his ally.

He growled, what could he do? But something came to him, an eye in his mind seemed to open up and grant him the sight, the knowledge of something he did not even know existed, the powers of Lumenion. Was there more to them? He took a deep breath only one way to find out, he pushed with that strength that he had coiled inside of him, never used before this moment.

It flowed through him in a rapid pace, filling each limb and each part of him. Then he turned that power over in his mind, forcing it to do what he imagined it to do in his mind, concentrating on it. He needed to disappear, to become like the wind, no blow could land on him yet he was able to attack and not be touched. That is what he wanted.

That is what he got. Rebel felt that flex within him, she felt his power surface, her own dormant power answered to him, beckoning, the two sources called out to each other, wanting to be together. She let out an unsteady breath as she became unbearably dizzy. She fell to her paws lying weekly on the ground.

The demons around her turned to her, unknowing of what to do, they asked if she was okay, but then their attention was cut short, as a startled gasp came from the demons in the front. All turned back to the battle. Only to see, a white mist floating, it formed the shape of a wolf like creature, the eyes like two floating orbs, burning like embers.

Wolfheart was backing away he lunged once more, but his body fell through the mist. A growl was emitted from the mist, then like fog or mist it floated and moved through the air. The ghostly apparition, the misty canine stood for a few seconds then pounced, Wolfheart was knocked backwards, and the mist was on top of him, holding him down, and he unable to combat it.

But after a few seconds more, the mist faded and it was One-Who-Follows there, although he was no longer standing, he was staggering and slowly falling to the earth, panting and looking weak and ragged. He sighed as he hit the earth. Wolfheart got up and walked to him, "are you okay?" he asked.

One-Who-Follows glanced to him, sides heaving. "I...I don't really know what happened...I...just...made it...work" Wolfheart nodded then he spoke "Looks, like you Lumenion have more to you then you think, come on, let's get you somewhere to rest, you did excellent."

* * *

"I don't understand what happened...well I do, I just...I don't know how to explain it." One-Who-Follows said as he rested in an empty place in the medic tents. Wolfheart sighed "I have somewhat of an idea, of how you feel, it seems both you Lumenion and us demons share that trait."

Rebel turned her head "Really?" she asked. Wolfheart nodded "You see, there are things, that we have, buried deep within us, talents, and abilities that don't surface until we need them exactly when we need them" Rebel shivered, that was frightening...but also comforting.

"Why?" she asked him. Once again the wolf demon sighed. He turned to her "I don't really know the reason, I think it's because, somethings, our minds shouldn't know at all times, some knowledge should only be known only by instinct and reflex." He added "Our hearts beat by reflex, imagine if we had to tell our hearts to beat? I would be dead if I had to do such a thing, so it's comes to no reason that we sometimes don't know things until the very moment we need them."

Rebel sighed as she yawned, she was so tired. She turned to Wolfheart, "So this..power within us? It is like your chakra?" Wolfheart shook his head "no, it IS chakra, you just didn't know about it, and you seem to not know how to control it, or concentrate it at length."

She sighed "Why is there so much unknown to us, by even us" Wolfheart nodded "That is a good question, one I cannot answer, not really anyway, the only thing to do, is to learn about yourselves, push yourselves, find out your limitations and find out your strengths, it takes time, but once you start doing it, you will learn so much."

Rebel nodded "Good, I think this is something that we need to do, what do you think?" She said turning to One-Who-Follows. He nodded "Yes, it is, but where do we begin?" Wolfheart spoke "with the basics, find out simple things, how fast you can run, how high you can leap, how long you can hold your breath, can you swim things like that."

She turned to him, "what is swimming?" Wolfheart was silent for a moment, "let's...not worry about that then, just go see your limits, even knowing small things helps to the greater end." She nodded "very well, I shall go practice leaping." She then turned and walked out of the tent.

She met up with Free-One and One-Who-Vanquishes. She stopped them and told them of her plan, and what Wolfheart had told her. They nodded and decided it was a good enough idea, at least it would pass the time as they waited for the battle to start-up again.

So the three of them found a clear area where no humans or demons were resting. There was some on the outskirts of the area who were resting and talking but none paid to much mind to them. Rebel decided to race around in a large circle, to see how fast they could be.

They lined up and shot off like rockets, their long ungainly limbs sweeping them over the ground like nothing else on this earth, they seemed to float over the ground, their feet barely touching, their limbs surging and stretching, as they dragged their bodies through the air.

She felt exuberant, full of energy, happy even, she charged forward going faster, Free-One joined in with her, they raced each other going faster and faster, One-Who-Vanquishes fell behind more and more. Rebel panted as her limbs began to tire, but she would not lose, she would not give in.

But even though the spirit was willing, her body was not. Slowly she fell behind and Free-One won. They all slowed and panted as their hearts calmed from the exercise. Two demons walked forward towards them, they were the thin ones, with tan fur and black and brown spots on their bodies, their bodies were long and their limbs were long as well.

Rebel remembered Wolfheart saying they were 'cheetahs' She lifted her head to them, one spoke he was a male. "You guys run fast, we thought we might challenge you to a race, you in?" She glanced towards Free-One, she spoke "I am greatly tired, but Free-One is willing."

Free-One stepped forward "I am always willing, running is so much fun, never have I gotten to run free like this!" Rebel shook her head, he acted like a young one sometimes. The cheetah growled in reply, he grinned his fangs sharp. "Then lets see what you got Lumenion."

Free-One and the cheetah demon lined up, while the other cheetah demon spoke, "first one to go three times around this area is winner." He said explaining the rules. Free-One nodded and then the cheetah counted down when he said "go" both cheetah and Lumenion were off. The cheetah accelerated at a faster pace then Free-One, but Free-One wasn't to far behind him.

The first lap, the cheetah was winning, Free-One five strides behind him. But after half of the second lap, the cheetah began to tire, his speed only worked for short distances. Free-One surged ahead, decreasing the stride lengths in rapid pace, first ten, then five, then three, soon he was along the cheetah, then they were neck and neck and then, with a last burst of speed Free-One broke though on the last half of the third lap. Taking the lead and beating the cheetah by five strides.

Both parties were exhausted and panted as One-Who-Vanquishes and Rebel ran to him. Free-One looked happy and proud for some reason. The cheetah spoke "You...you sure can run, I am honored to race you." Free-One bowed his head "Thanks" He looked to One-Who-Vanquishes, "What did you think?" he asked her excitedly, apparently he really wanted her thoughts on the matter.

She flicked an ear and smiled, "It was good." She then turned and walked away. Free-One sighed as he deflated. Rebel felt bad for him. "It's okay" she said. Not sure why or what she was comforting. Rebel yawned suddenly, she was tired, when she looked around she noticed that most everyone was, they had many competition that day, both humans and demons alike, so everyone just wanted to go to bed.

She found herself heading that way as well. The sun was descending, and twilight was becoming the norm. The darkness shadowing overhead, spreading like a fog. Demons, humans and the few Lumenion were retiring to their beds, welcoming the sweet embrace of sleep. Rebel had curled up and got relaxed, she closed her eyes, welcoming sleep as well.

Then she heard the deadly screech of a flying Lumenion, as it signalled the beginning of an attack.

* * *

**NSW**


	89. Fall

**Life As A Fox**

**Chapter 88**

**NSW**

* * *

She snapped her eyes open and leaped to her feet, her heart pounding. She looked up into the sky, in the darkening twilight, she could see slight almost invisible forms gliding on the wind. She could hear them with their high-pitched piercing screams. The subtle flapping of their skin that was stretched over such a grotesque body, the snapping of their tendons and the creaking of their bones.

She growled at the sky, her fur on edge. Bearing her fangs she challenged them. She couldn't see them clearly, the sky was foggy and dark, and the fog seemed to be growing thicker by the second. Rolling over like a silver wave over the wall, and it billowed down, seeping to the ground. submerging them all. She could hear the cries and growls in the dark.

Humans were yelling to each other, trying to communicate to each other. Rebel was confused, what was this? This fog? She could barely see through it, in fact she couldn't! She howled, She felt something brush beside her, she jumped and lunged attacking. But a voice called out, stopping her. "It's me!" It was One-Who-Follows.

She stopped and searched for him in the mist. She felt his warmth brush against her once more. She calmed down a little as he spoke to her. "We need to find a place to hide, they can see though this mist, we are vulnerable." She nodded "But...how do you know?" she asked, turning to were his voice came sounding out in the gray darkness around her.

"Because they produce it, so obviously, they know how to see through it." "Since...when!?" she exclaimed, he hushed her. "I remember hearing some of the human talking in the camp before we left, they spoke of the special abilities the flying Lumenion were discovering, they can only do this at night, which is why they are attacking now."

She growled, "So it was their plan all around, and you did say anything?" He sighed "I didn't know what they were talking about, and I had no idea if they were actually going to use it, the flying Lumenion were almost extinct when we left, only twenty were still alive." She shuddered, "That is why there was no fighting the past couple days, they were waiting for the flying Lumenion to re-produce."

He sighed next to her, "Yes, apparently, but now we need to hurry come on." She growled as she ran through the mist, it was unnerving to walk and run and not see where you were going. All around she heard screams and cries. The flying Lumenion attacking blind demons who couldn't fight back until it was too late.

Rebel felt her paws step into something wet and warm, she didn't need to see to know already it was blood, she was walking on blood. She growled, this was not war! This was slaughter, it was not proper! She glanced up, closing her eyes. Trying to sense for her bloody kin. She at first saw nothing, but then from out of the darkness of her closed eyes.

It was as if a filter came through, ghostly grainy images pierced through the darkness. She could see the group of Lumenion flying overhead. Keeping her eyes closed she scanned the battlefield. She extended and pushed out the new-found power that they had. She could see the massacre happening. Five swarmed a Rhino.

He tossed his head about and roared, jabbing blindly at the creatures that gripped him. She growled and ran forward. Ignoring One-Who-Follows warning. She leaped, and landed on the back of one of them. She dug her jaws into its thin, frail neck. She heard the satisfying crunch and black blood welled up into her mouth.

She roared out as she moved to the next, shredding its wing, it screeched, startling its kin, they took to the skies, in confusion. She leaped upon the downed rhino then pushed all her power into her legs, leaping up and snaring one from out of the skies. It screeched as it was dragged back down to the earth, where it received no mercy from her.

She roared as the other flew higher out of her reach. One-Who-Follows came up to her. "How are you-" She turned to him "Close your eyes! Sense for them! Look for them by not looking!" He paused and did so, she spoke "Do you see now?" he nodded "We need to get the others" She nodded she put her head back and howled for Free-One and One-Who-Vanquish.

But not wanting to waste time both dove in and went for the next group of flying Lumenion. Saving one of the mighty gorilla axe-men. He was an older one, with silver fur running through his, and with a scar over his eye. "What the hell is going on!" He roared, shouldering off his pain. She spoke "They secrete this mist, making you unable to attack, form small groups with others, it is your best defense, aim for the skies!" She yelled to him.

He snorted and turned, stumbling around for others. She turned and looked, it seemed that others had come to that conclusion, men stood back to back bracing against each other. Groups of demons stood in small huddles. The strongest on the outside, and the injured or the older on the inside. The wolf demons were surrounding the pups and elders, since the entire nation of them had come.

Pups whined and whimpered, as their mothers and fathers growled defiantly and fought with insane strength. Many a failed Lumenion lay before their prowess. Rebel turned to 'see' Wolfheart running behind a figure. It was a female. With pale skin and dark hair. Who was she? But Rebel had no time to worry. She turned and attacked another Lumenion who was trying to get at the rhino once more.

She killed it swiftly. It screeched as it died, flying into a wall then thudding onto the ground, blood spurting from it's wounds. She growled as she stood over the fallen rhino. He slowly got up. "Thank...thank you" he said coughing. She nodded "Anytime, where is your group?" He staggered up the earth shaking from his bulk.

"I don't know...can't see a damn thing" She felt like an idiot, how could she have forgotten that they couldn't see? She cleared her throat. "Come, we will guide you" He snorted and did so, She paused though. "What is it?" the rhino asked. "It's the enemy, they have discovered the underground tunnels into Konoha!" The rhino swore.

"We are going to be easy prey!" "We already are" muttered One-Who-Follows. "Quiet!" She yelled. "We have to figure a way to stop them!" "Wait, how do you know?" asked the rhino. She growled "because they are swarming up as we speak!" she yelled. She was right. The enemy nin aided by herds of Lumenion like herself were funneling through the underground passages, they must have found them when everyone was distracted from the sky attack.

But she wondered how the sentries and guards posted didn't give a warning, but then again maybe the mist was outside the walls as well. So the few sentries and guards could have been killed quickly before they could give a warning. She growled "The mist must surround the walls as well, they could have over powered the sentries and took the passages for themselves!" She yelled.

The rhino snorted "not for long" he stumbled forward, "We rhino's move earth, the earth is all we know, lead me to the entrances and I will collapse the passages and all within them shall die." She froze as she glanced up "But...the wall is situated on them! If you collapse them, the wall might collapse as well!" The rhino snorted "It is now or never! either we preserve the wall and our certain death, or bring it down on the enemy and save ourselves!"

She sighed, what else could they do? It's not like they could find the Hokage and ask permission, everyone was to busy trying to not get killed. She consented. "Very well" she turned back to him. "Do you need help?" he snorted "They are simple passages, I can do without my kin." One-Who-Follows spoke "I know where the others are, you go ahead and I will return shortly with back up, okay?" he asked her.

She nodded. He brushed his muzzle against hers before running off. Her and the rhino trotted as fast as they could towards the tunnel openings. The Horse demons and water buffalo could smell the enemy and were defending the openings so there wasn't any nin in the village, but it would only be a matter of time. A few Lumenion had escaped their hooves and were sneaking through.

Rebel let a feral growl, surprising her own by attacking them and ripping their unguarded throats open. She spat the blood out and turned "We are there" the rhino snorted "Thank-you again wolf sister." She paused "I am not a wolf, I am Rebel, the Lumenion." The rhino paused. "Oh" he said, then shook his hide "then I thank-you Rebel."

He turned his eyes closing, she saw a faint glimmer of power welling upon the expanse of his horn. He snorted slowly letting his breath out. Then he grunted as he shifted his left leg forward. A tremor went through the earth in front of him. Power expanded from him, she felt the shift of the ground. She felt a tremor of fear go down her spine.

She then heard the loud snap, as the wall began to crack. She heard the sound of muffled screams and cries as earth buried overtop of the enemy nin. She ran forward as the wall splintered more and more as more and more tunnels were caved in. She screamed higher and above the sounds of battle, to the horses and water buffalo and any other present.

"Get away from the wall! The supports are collapsing! Get away! Tell everyone!" Luckily a few hawk demons were present as well. They ducked and glided in circles around her as they listened to her message, she looked up and told them as well. With chirps and screeches they peeled off into all directions, spreading the news all along the line near the wall.

* * *

Kakashi was using his sharingan as he stood upon the ramparts of the wall. Killing the flying beasts before they got into the village. Below in the mist he could hear the sounds of demons people he pledged to protect getting hurt and dying. He could hear the sounds of his ninja and the others pledging to fight with them dying as well.

This made him angry, angrier then ever. He roared as he plunged a chidori through three of the flying Lumenion. He then spun around and did the hand signs for his water dragon jutsu attack. It roared to life in a spitting foam and knocked a good twenty out of the sky. They hit the ramparts screeching as some of their bones broke.

Then they screeched out once more as Kakashi's only other ally finished them off. Dragging out a small flint battle-axe from the skull of a lumenion he grinned his feral fangs and roared a great ape roar. This gorilla was the older one that he had nodded to, the one that bared a scar like his. Kakashi still had not yet learned his name.

Kakashi nodded once more and then both turned to fight off more, But a tremor went through the wall. "What the fuck?" Kakashi said. As he stabilized himself. The gorilla gave a grunt. Then flung himself into battle once more. They both killed another good ten or so before the wall began to creak. Kakashi froze, what was happening to the wall?

As if the gods answered his prayer a hawk demon flew up to him. "Evacuate the wall! Evacuate the wall! The rhino's are bringing it down!" Kakashi swore "Why the hell are they doing that!" The hawk dodged a sudden flying Lumenion as Kakashi killed it swiftly. "The enemy have found the passages, they are trying to break into Konoha from underneath, the rhino's are bringing down the passages and while doing so, the wall."

Kakashi closed his eyes, at the moment he would have to accept it. If it meant saving Konoha, sacrificing the great wall would have to be a price to be paid. He nodded "Evacuate the wall!" he roared out as he began to run down it's length. The gorilla followed behind him. Protecting his back. Kakashi screamed down "Get away from the wall! Away from the wall!" Hopefully people heard him.

* * *

Naruto stood next to Hinata, she was his eyes in this battle. "To your left, ten feet" she said. He nodded and wordlessly he charged forward, until he scented the enemy. He tore his fangs into the back and dragged it down. Burying his fangs into the flesh, spitting out the accursed blood. Then his ears flicked as he heard Kakashi's voice from above.

"Get away from the wall!" Naruto turned and rushed back to Hinata, following her scent. He spoke "What does he mean?" "Sir!" A voice called out. It was Mouse. Naruto grunted "Mouse, what the hell is going on! It's the rhino demons, they are bringing down the tunnels." Naruto froze, that meant the enemy nin were in there, and that meant that all the braced for the wall would be destroyed, and so, the wall itself.

He growled. "Dammit, no one tells me anything, has anyone been able to break through this fog at all!?" Mouse spoke "no sir, it's not a normal fog, it's seems to be emitted by use of chakra." Naruto growled. "Then...Have all they fire type users use the strongest jutsu's they know and burn through it, we will just have to emit a stronger chakra force and push the other back."

Mouse spoke "hai sir, excellent Idea" Naruto spoke "Talk to the Lightening country nin, they know how to battle this sort of stuff, see if they have any ideas as well. Tell anyone else to start telling those ear the wall to get the fuck out!" Mouse left with another "hai" then Naruto turned to Hinata. "Let's go" She nodded "To the wall?" He snorted "where else?"

* * *

Iruka helped move the last gravely injured human more to the back of the medic tents. Within the tents they could see there was no strange mist. Gomeg was ushering commands Iruka and whatever mostly able-bodied demons and human helped him move the more seriously injured to more protected places. Iruka moved to help a limping tiger demon.

But another nin helped him as well, he looked up to see Sasuke. He was surprised. "Oh" he said. "Iruka-sensai" Sasuke said. Iruka glanced down, Sasuke had several bandages wrapping his torso. "I was here for my last medication, when the attack...I have terrible luck" Sasuke said giving a small grin. Iruka froze. Was this Sasuke? Or was he dead and dreaming?

Sasuke helped the tiger to another spot. Iruka looked up, something was at the door. He turned, a kunai in hand. Sasuke nodded to him. Iruka nodded back, Sasuke would return as quickly as possible, until then Iruka would have to hold back whatever was there. Iruka spoke before he could stop himself. "I always knew you and Naruto would be great friends, that's why I had you to put on the same team."

Sasuke paused "You aren't supposed to do that, it's supposed to be random" Iruka smirked "Nothing is ever random Sasuke, everything has it's purpose." Sasuke nodded and turned. Iruka turned as well and walked towards the door. Where the shadow of a few Lumenion figures could be seen through the tent fabric.

A bob cat demon and three hyena's walked with him. Iruka nodded to them as well. Slowly the tent flap was pushed aside. A white muzzle dug through, bearing sharp salivating fangs. Iruka waited until the head had fully pushed through, then he threw the kunai and hit the Lumenion in the wild feral eye. It yelped and fell to the ground spasming.

Iruka was weaponless as three Lumenion burst through. The demons charged forward. Iruka grabbed a tray and used it as a shield. It blocked a Lumenions jaws as one leaped untop of him. It knocked the tray away. Iruka brought his hand back and punched it across the snout. It's head snapped back then it slowly turned to glare at him.

It snapped it's mouth open and pushed it's head forward. Iruka grabbed both jaws and held them back, wrestling with it. He groaned as it's fangs cut his fingers to shreds. This is what he got for choosing to teach kids how to hold a kunai instead of going on missions and keeping his skills up to par. But when he though back, it was good of him to teach, that is what he could do, he taught people like Naruto and Sasuke, people who could really protect others, so by him teaching them, he protected other as well.

So when the Lumenion broke through his defense, and ripped into his neck and shoulder, he didn't mind too much. He didn't really feel anything. He just closed his eyes and remembered all the lessons that he taught, all the students he met, how he had made up for all the bad things he had taught when he wasn't thinking right.

Those children were so surprised in that first week. How Iruka sansei, the 'oni- sansei' suddenly became nice and kind. Now all the children who feared him...he couldn't get them to go home! They had always wanted to say with him! But he smiled as he felt feeling drift from them. Little did they know, those children did stay with him, every smile, every word, every precious memory.

All of it was preserved in his mind, each was a little leaf, that grew and blossomed on his tree. He sighed as he closed his eyes, and embraced its sweet fragrance.

* * *

Sasuke came back, he was gone for a few moments, he had to carry a young fox demon with two broken legs into the back rooms. He ran back to the front. Only to see four demons, a bob-cat, and three hyena surrounding the figure of Iruka. A slayed Lumenion lay ontop of him bleeding as well. All around Lumenion bore the marks of fighting a bob-cat and three hyena.

Sasuke ran up to Iruka. He went to his knees. He was gone. His teacher, the one who had taught him everything, the one who gave him strength when he needed it, who helped him after his family was gone. That teacher was dead, and he had died smiling.

Sasuke felt tears come from his eyes. His chin shook as he gritted his teeth. He clenched his hands. The demons could sense that Iruka was important to him, so they bowed their heads and let them be. Sasuke spoke "You are right...Iruka, nothing is ever random, everything has a purpose, thank-you...for your last lesson."

Sasuke rose drawing his sword, he lifted his sword, not to avenge Iruka's death, but to preserve his precious memory. He would fight not to kill, but to protect those that lived. Sasuke gave Iruka one last look, he nodded then he spoke to the demons. "Stay here and guard the others, I will go outside and do the same." The demons nodded and shifted into ready positions.

Sasuke slowly opened the tent flap, activating his sharingan. He saw no one. He went through and stood outside. From far away he could see small groups fighting. But they were distant, and looked like they had a handle on things. He froze when he heard another loud snapping. It echoed, more snapping, followed by creaking.

The ground shifted beneath him. "What the..." he said looking around. Then he saw it, the wall shivered like a great wave, it buckled and soon the great wall of Konoha began to fall.

* * *

**Well that's what I got so far, Happy valentines Day...huh...maybe I should have did some more lover like stuff...instead of...this...but...ah well, I am the Author, I do what I want.**

**NSW**


	90. Bloody Hell

**Life As A Fox**

**Chapter 89**

**NSW**

* * *

Naruto's feet were taken out from under him as he doubled over in pain. Another soul bond lost. He knew already who it was. It was Iruka. He wanted to howl in agony at the loss, but he had not time, the rumbling of the wall signaled that everyone had to move, and move fast. Naruto barked at Hinata, he could see a little, his plan had worked, now you could see at least shadows and slight figures of people in the mist.

It was more like a smoke now. He called out. "Move Hinata now!" Hinata nodded and ran fast. Naruto leaped out of the way of a few falling rocks. He staggered as he tripped over another, but he caught himself and ran towards the lone wolf pup that was shaking in a curled ball. He grabbed it by it's scruff then ran with it. Scanning for any others that could be in danger.

He saw none so far, but he continued to run as fast as he could. Along the crumbling wall. He kept an eye on it making sure to judge it right. He swerved and veered over fallen bodies, so many of them. He felt a cold pit of anger form in his stomach. He pushed it back down, no, now was not the time. He flicked his ears as he heard cries.

He paused, but then realized that was enemy nin. For a moment he felt sorry for them. To be underground, not knowing what was happening as the ceiling and walls caved in about you, it must be a frightening way to die. Being buried alive. But he shook it from mind, they were his enemies, no pity would they get from him.

Time was running out fast. The flying Lumenion seemed to be in retreat. They swarmed back over the falling wall. Everyone else seemed to be in chaos. What with the mist, and the falling wall. Naruto charged forward. The pup still in his jaws. He had to find a safe place for it. He turned and dashed towards a lioness. He set the pup down.

"Please, carry it to safety." She nodded and picked it up. Naruto turned back, the pup no longer on his mind. He ran back, leaping over the fallen, calling out to see if anyone would answer. He had to leap out-of-the-way of a group of galloping horses fleeing the wall. He called out once more no answer, he decided maybe all were out of harms way.

The wall was slowly tilting further and further to the left, it's shadow fell over them like a giants. He gulped. How long had that wall stood? How long had that familiar and beautiful element surround Konoha? It was what had protected them from so many attack, it seemed ironic. Now they had to defend against their own defense.

He turned and ran, it would be foolish to try and continue and find more who needed help. There was a time when you had to turn you back, and just hope that no one was really further ahead.

* * *

Kakashi gripped the wall as it tilted dangerously. "We have to get down!" He said turning to the faithful gorilla. He snorted Kakashi lifted his leg to leap off the wall when suddenly a flying Lumenion shot up in front of him. Knocking him back. He held back a cry when his back thudded against a large piece of splintered wood.

It had stabbed him deeply. He gasped as he caught his breath, his heart thudding. The gorilla had finished off the offending Lumenion before Kakashi could eve register his pain. The wall creaked and buckled. Kakashi let a cry again as the wall fell a few feet with them on top of it. His stomach lurched. The wall bent over, he and the gorilla had to hang on for deal life as they sat suspended in mid-air at a ninety degree angle.

The gorilla climbed up next to him. He put a hand on his shoulder. Kakashi looked into his eyes and nodded. The gorilla grimaced as he began to pull Kakashi off the piece of splintered wood. Kakashi cried out as he was ripped off it. He almost passed out, he was dizzy and hurting. He put a hand across his chest and gripped his side.

He staggered up, somehow he had the energy to do so. The gorilla clapped him on his shoulder. "Thank-you" Kakashi said. The gorilla nodded "You are welcome, it is my pleasure to serve you." Kakashi grinned despite the situation. "Come on" he said. They stepped forward ready to leap to safety. But the boards the gorilla stepped on caved, unable to hold his weight.

Kakashi reached for him, but the gorilla roared at him and caught himself. The wood he gripped onto creaked and splintered, but held. Kakashi reached for him once more. "No!" He roared. The wall buckled again, Kakashi was almost thrown off. "Go! While you can!" the gorilla roared. "But what about you!" Kakashi yelled.

"I will survive! Just go!" Kakashi nodded and turned from him, even though his heart told him no. He wondered if this was how Mammoth had felt. He leaped off the wall, away from all that was tumbling down and falling apart, away from the gorilla who saved his life(more then once)and had watched his back. He leaped to safety and to the unknown life ahead.

* * *

The wall gave one last loud creak sounding more like a scream. Some people even said they could hear it cry out. But the wall of Konoha fell, hitting the ground with a massive crash. It shook the earth and great clouds of dust rose up billowing out like the smoke of a dragons. For a few moments, your sense was attacked repeatedly over and over with the deafening rumbling and crashing of rock, the screeching of wood, snapping and bending.

Then all were blinded and choked by the dust as it settled. Naruto looked up, the sight...was...beautiful, a tragic beauty. The sunrise was just beginning to peak it's head up over the hills. Casting it's beams towards the earth, where it hit a settling dust. The dust reflected the light, making it seem to glow, like gold. There was a deafening silence.

Naruto stepped forward what seemed after a lifetime. Towards the crumbled wall that lay fallen like so many others, the wall was such a moving and present entity in his life, it was like a person to him. It had always signaled that he was home, and that it would protect him, with the wall, he felt like a child would held in his mothers arms.

But now that entity was gone, ripped away from him, along with whatever childhood innocent feeling he had with it. Naruto had lost one of the last few links to his precious childhood. He closed his eyes, as he cried. He didn't know if he cried for Iruka, who also was a large contribution to his childhood as well, or if he cried for the wall, he finally settled on both.

He heard foot prints come towards him. It was Sasuke, his eyes red with tears. Naruto looked into his eyes, a silence passed between them. They both knew how the other felt, they both knew that the other knew that Iruka was gone. "When" Naruto asked, he was unsure. "Awhile ago, he died protecting the injured in the medic tents."

Naruto nodded that was so like him. Fighting to protect those who couldn't protect themselves. Sasuke lifted his head and turned towards the wall. Naruto did as well. "You know. It's actually quite...beautiful, that wall, now gone...it seems befitting." Naruto glanced to him "what do you mean?" Sasuke spoke without turning to him.

"The wall represented the old ideas of Konoha, about the times of war and shutting oneself away from the world, about holding onto the same set of ideas...with the wall gone, we are now open to new things, new ideas...new allies and friends." Naruto turned and looked at the fallen wall. In a way Sasuke was right. Naruto scanned it's length.

"Some of it yet remains, I think only the front part of the wall collapsed, the other part that surrounds the rest of the village is still there." Sasuke turned "yeah, your right." More of a silence passed between them. Sasuke spoke "Iruka...he told me, that...he put us on the same team for a reason." Naruto turned to him "really? Why?" Sasuke turned to him "he said that we would make good friends." Naruto smirked, then he chuckled.

Sasuke broke out in a grin and then they both began to laugh. After sometime when the hoots of laughter died down. Naruto spoke "ah, Iruka, how funny you were sometimes, but then again, I guess he was right." Sasuke nodded "He was, he also told me, everything happens for a reason." Naruto nodded "He would be right as well."

Sasuke sighed "We left the academy almost what? 15 years ago? And he's still taking us to school." Naruto grinned and nodded "He was a good teacher." "He wasn't good, he was great" Sasuke said. Naruto nodded "Come on, let's see if we can make ourselves useful instead of standing around like gossipers at the market."

Naruto trotted through the debris. Mouse reported to his side. "What is the outcome?" Naruto asked. "Casualties are high, but most were able to fend off the attack well, none got into the village, and if they did they were taken care of." Naruto nodded "good, what of the Hokage?" Mouse paused. "None have seen him so far."

Naruto turned "What?" He growled "have whoever's not busy doing anything scan and look for him, also set up a line of sentries along the wall, now that we don't have it's defense we are going to need to have more eyes than ever." Mouse nodded and left. Naruto ran a little faster, he saw a group of ninja. "Go help carry in the injured and seeing if anyone alive has been buried under the wall."

They nodded and did so. Naruto ran towards the generals tent. He pushed in. Gaara and Bee were both there. Bee was cleaning his swords whistling. Gaara was absently playing with his sand. "Have either of you seen Kakashi?" Both paused and looked up. "No, no one has seen him." Naruto growled "Then what the hell are you doing here! Go out and look for him!" He snapped.

Gaara and Bee shrieked from him. An angry wolf could be quite scary. Naruto turned and left. His heart beating rapidly. He searched for Kakashi in-between giving orders. Having people help the medics, ordering people to start stacking some of the large portions of the wall back up, to have at least some sort of defense. The cleaning up of the wall was the worse part.

Every earth user as well as, every rhino demon was being used to their absolute maximum. All the Taijutsu and any strong man was also being used. The water buffalo permitted for harnesses to be put on them, as well as the horses, and they pulled the large stones away to be re-stacked. It was a slow and sweaty process. The flying demons were on constant alert, they glided in the skies, making sure if an enemy nin even sneezed Naruto would know about it.

What they didn't need now was an attack when everyone was dog dead tired from hauling bricks and stones around all day, not after a long night of fighting. Between the desolateness of the situation and the pain of losing so many, the work was mostly done silently, and with bleak and grim faces. For the first time, Naruto could see a sense of despair among the men, their hearts and bodies had been broken.

Naruto wished he could stop and say a word, but he was too busy with all the orders and requests, he basically a stand in for the Hokage, who still has of yet to appear.

* * *

Kakashi kneeled on the ground, in front of the wall. Staring down at something he had stared at for hours. Dried tears caked onto his face along with everything else. A single large gorilla hand extended out from underneath the debris of the wall. Kakashi knew he was gone, the gorilla who had saved his life, was gone.

Kakashi was over come with grief. The loss of such a loyal friend, and the loss of the wall, everything seemed so...lost, do defeated. He shook his head, he shouldn't be thinking like this, he had to get his head together. Everyone was looking up to him, to stay strong, to keep the fire burning. But even now he had a hard time finding his own inner fire, how was he supposed to instill it into others?

He heard heavy foot falls behind him. He turned it was Dither. Kakashi nodded to him. Dither spoke "He died in battle, how he always wanted to go." Kakashi after some time said "He died saving my life." Dither walked up towards him and plopped himself on the ground next to him. Kakashi was propelled into the air an inch before landing again.

He grunted and doubled over in pain from his wound. Dither glanced at him "You should get that checked." Kakashi sighed "no, the medics are probably already swamped, I will wait." Dither sighed lowly. "How did you know him?" Kakashi asked "He's my father, Detritis" Kakashi sighed he finally knew the name. "I am sorry for your loss"

The gorilla chuckled "Don't be, you see we gorilla believe, if we die in battle, we get to go to a place of endless feasting, where we sit around the tables with everyone else who passed before us, and dine as we share stories." Kakashi nodded that did sound nice. "How did you know he was here?" "My soul bond pulled me towards him."

Kakashi grunted "You don't feel any sadness at all?" Dither sighed "My father taught me all he knew, there was nothing that wasn't said between us, I know that he left this world without any regrets, he gladly embraced death, which is exactly how I knew my father would go, I somehow knew he knew it was his time when he joined with us again."

"Joined again?" Dither nodded "Yes, I took over the group when my father retired, but when he heard of this battle, he gathered his axes and said he would join us again, he must have somehow knew this would be his time." Kakashi sighed he knew men like that, like Mammoth, Mammoth knew it was his time as well, it seemed that everyone knew when it was their time, he wondered how did they know?

How could they walk calmly into a fray, knowing they were going to die, happy that they would? Kakashi couldn't wrap his head around it. He loved his life too much, he loved the people around him, he didn't think he could die knowing that he would cause unbearable loss to those he loved. But then again, Dither understood his fathers actions and was happy for them, so maybe...just maybe there was something deeper then dying in his death.

Dither spoke "General Wolfheart is frantically looking for you, you know?" Kakashi sighed "I would assume so, I suppose it's time for me to return, I can't leave all my responsibilities to him, that would be unfair, thank-you Dither." He nodded "You are welcome, do you need help?" Kakashi waved him off and stood, "I can do this-" He blacked out, not knowing how he finished his sentence.

Dither turned when he heard the dull thud of the Hokage hitting the ground. He snorted "I also knew that would happen as well, you and my father are so alike, so proud-full to admit you need help." Dither rose and picked up the limp form of the Hokage. Hauling him over his shoulder he quickly ran on three limbs to the healing tents.

Naruto was issuing orders once more when Sokol flew over head. "Found the Hokage, he's in the healing tents." Naruto gave an exasperated sigh. He turned and walked to the tents. "Ah..." said the man giving a report. "Can't you walk and talk at the same time?" Naruto called over his shoulder. The man quickly fell in step behind him.

* * *

Kakashi was being wrapped up, he sat bare-chested as a medic wrapped him. He held an icepack over his head as well, from where Sakura had punched him. That was what he got for making her worry, and for pushing all his work on Naruto. Who of course walked in at that moment. Kakashi nodded to him. Naruto glared at him as he turned and told a man to switch the sentries with workers, so that the sentries didn't get off easy and that the workers weren't overworked.

Naruto also told another to go into the inner city where all the villagers were staying, safe as possible. He told to gather every carpenter and any other person who knew how to lift a hammer to come and help out as well. Kakashi nodded that was good, Naruto was smart to think of such a thing. When Naruto didn't have a harem of people asking for orders and requests he turned to Kakashi.

He spoke "What. . Where. You. Thinking!" He roared. Kakashi scooted back, an inch, but not because he was scared, it was because...he well...okay he was somewhat intimidated by Naruto. "You can't just go under the radar like that! You are the Hokage! You have responsibilities! Do you know what would happen to us if we lost your leadership?! It is crucial that we have you!" Kakashi listened to his former student without saying word, Naruto was right, absolutely right.

When Naruto was finished he spoke "I know, Naruto, I know...I am sorry, I...well...I just didn't know what was happening, first there is an attack, and then the wall, and then...then...the demon who was with me the entire time, sacrificed himself for me...I don't know what to think anymore." Naruto sighed. "Kakashi, I know you must be hurting bad, but you cannot let your emotion get to you now, that is the worse thing for you to do, win this war, then grieve okay? That is what we all must do."

Kakashi nodded "Thank-you Naruto, you can send people in for me, you need not burden yourself with my job any longer." Naruto nodded "good, that will be punishment enough for you, lesson learned?" He asked him. Kakashi nodded "Learned well" Naruto grinned then turned he paused "I don't know if I should tell you this, but...Iruka died as well."

Kakashi stared at Naruto. His heart stopped beating for a second. Iruka by far was one of his closest child-hood friends he had left. Now, Iruka was gone as well? He turned away to hide the tears emerging from his eyes. Naruto left him walking back out to do his duty.

* * *

Rebel helped move another block to the top of the pile. It was mid-afternoon. Everyone was tired, everyone was dirty. Everyone just wanted to lay down and rest, she especially. But she pressed on, and moved in next to a lion and cheetah. They accepted her without complaint. They had sweated together and fought together, she had made herself known to be one of them, even though she wasn't.

They paused at the top of the pile and looked down. Rebel panted, she grew dizzy. She collapsed her body lay so weak. A human from the Sand spoke. "Get up, no one else is resting, why should you? You are the cause of all this." He said bitterly. She stared up at him. "What do you mean? I did not fly over the wall and attack you, I did not start this war."

The man glared and shifted his feet. He stood sweating, bare of anything except for pants, shoes and a headband keeping his hair out of his eyes. "You are a Lumenion, like any of the others, it doesn't matter which side you are on, you will always be un-welcomed in this world." "Why...why would you say such things?" she said, too tired for anger, too tired to care.

The cheetah came to her defense. "Leave off of her, everyone has a place on this planet, that is what they said first about us when we were here, We should not so easily turn her away nor any of her kind who ask peace from us, they can bring something new to us." "What? More death? Were you here for the massacre last night? Did you see what her kind did to us!?"

The cheetah growled, "Silence human! I was here last night! I know the pain they caused! I lost my brother to the Lumenion last night! Yet you do not see me so foolishly blame others! You humans are all alike! Won't admit how blind and stupid you are, so you shift the blame to others!" "Quiet you! You demons are nothing but a bunch of talking animals!"

That caused an outrage. Demons all around growled,snapped, hissed and roared at that. Fur stood on end as the demons faced off against the human. His comrades stood next to him, ready to protect him. There was a definite clash seconds from happening. Rebel rose up, yelling, commanding their ears. "Look at you! Both of you are allies, fighting in something noble and just!Both of you have places in this world that are justified, and yet here you are! Bickering among each other over the same set of ideals that your comrades are dying for!"

A silence descended among those present. "Think to all those you have lost" she said softer. "What did they die for? They died knowing, that someday, demons and humans could live together in peace, that your species could collaborate together and be together." All around her, eyes glazed over powerful memories as each present remembered those they lost.

"Yet here you stand, fighting because you can't accept my kind...that is understandable, I know that my kind has done damage on each of you, but you forget, I too fought next to you last night, I to was lost in that mist, I too had to fight for my life, and I to fear what lies in that camp, I fear what lies ahead for my kind, but do let your fear act out against each other, now more and ever you need to stand together, stand together and fight."

She looked down, "The enemy thinks, that with the crushing of this wall, we are scattered and broken like it, well...let us teach them, that even though our wall is broken, our spirit and our resolve is not!" A roar went up from the demons and humans. They were instilled once more with strength, thanks to an unprecedented source.

* * *

She felt One-Who-Follows brush up against her. She looked into his eyes. He smiled softly at her. "There's my Rebel." He said to her. She grinned as well, but then she lowered her head and something strange happened to her. What was once on the inside of her stomach, was coming out her mouth. One-Who-Follows was startled he jumped back, and danced on his paws, not knowing what to do.

"Whats wrong are you okay?" he said worriedly. She coughed. "I...I'm okay, I just...don't know whats happening to me." He nodded and a cheetah came up to her. "Go, take a rest, you deserve it, kami knows you deserve it." She nodded and shakily moved past the others, they parted for her. She walked and found some shade, she needed to rest so bad.

She flopped down and fell asleep instantly.

* * *

She awoke much later, it was dark out. "What...what time is it?" she asked out loud. One-Who-Follows turned to her. He lay beside her, propping her up on his shoulder. "It is night, you have slept for a while, I told Wolfheart of what happened, he thanks you greatly for what I did, he also told me to tell you to visit Gomeg when you awake, you may be in for a surprise."

She cocked her head. "How so?" she asked him. He shrugged and got up."I got you food." he said pushing a bowl towards her. She accepted and ate it greedily. She looked up to him, he was stockier now, they all were, they no longer had that skeletal and bony look to them, their bodies were actually more proportionate and looked even a little beautiful.

They looked stoic, and noble in a way. Pristine, with their tall, sharp features, and shining fur and eyes. She got up and strode next to him as they made their way to the medic tents. All was quit there was well. All had been taken care of and treated, now it was the medics turn to rest. Gomeg sat, his feet inside a bowl of a strange smelling water.

She scrunched her nose at it. "Scrunch your nose all you want, this stuff here is like heaven on the feet." She glanced to him. "Oh, sorry" she said bowing her head. He rose up and stepped out of the bowl, drying his feet with fabric he turned to her. "So I supposed I had better check you out, see if mine and Wolfhearts hunch is right."

She glanced to him "What is it that is wrong with me?" He smirked "Oh nothing, it is a common occurrence, one that you believed might not have happened but due to certain...advancements you two have made as a species, I thought it would be befitting." Gomeg stepped forward. "I can't scan with my chakra obviously, but I can do another thing as well."

He closed his eyes then opened them, they glowed, much like theirs. He stepped forward and placed a hand on her side. She turned her head to him, afraid that she might be sick or dying. He chuckled. "We were right." He stepped away. "What is it?" She asked."Parasites." Gomeg said. She froze "Parasites! we have to get them out!"

He shook his head "No you wouldn't want to do that, these are good ones." "There are such things?" One-Who-Follows asked. Gomeg nodded "Oh yes, give them awhile to grow, and you will see for yourself, they can be cute when they are young, but then they grow up and learn how to say no, and then they are out running around, causing mischief, but time will teach you two to be good parents."

She froze. "Parents...what are these?" "It's what you call those who have kids, or pups...or cubs...whatever you want to call them." She glanced to One-Who-Follows. "You mean...we are parents, but we have no young! We Lumenion reproduce by...growing off of our own bodies." The badger smirked. "That's what you thought, but I think it's safe to say, that everything you previously thought about yourselves...is false."

She gulped. "So...we are going to have young?" Gomeg nodded. "And they are located within...me?" She asked him, glancing down. "Yes." "Won't they die? Shouldn't we get them out!?" She exclaimed. Gomeg chuckled "no, we don't want that, they need time to grow, the time will come when they want to come out."

She was silent, the news was...staggering. She spoke up finally after sometime. "How did they get there?" Wolfheart sighed. "erm, Rebel...do you remember how you and...One-Who-Follows...had those times...when your...organs...joined?" She nodded, then froze. "Wait! You mean, when that happened...that is when the young were put in?" Wolfheart nodded "Yes"

She looked to One-Who-Follows. "How? I did not feel anything crawl into me." Gomeg tutted. "Well...oh bloody hell, must we explain the whole process!?" he said glancing to Wolfheart. Wolfheart nodded "I am guessing so." "Ha, fine then, you two, sit down and listen well, I am only going to explain this once." Rebel and One-Who-Follows did so.

* * *

**NSW**


	91. I've had Enough

**Life As A Fox**

**Chapter 90**

* * *

**Wow. I made it to 90 Chapters! This is awesome, I want to thank all of you for giving me the support to keep on with this story. Thank-you all, it is you readers who make this what it is. Without you, this would just be random ramblings on the internet. Thank-you so much.**

**I don't like to do special shout-outs, (Because I don't want to show favoritism), but there is some people who I think deserve them. Even though I love all of my readers equally.**

**So heres a shout-out to...**

**RandomRamenQueen**

**kooloowarrior**

**Again, I don't like to show favoritism, all of you are awesome, and do amazing jobs, but these two above deserve credit for the awesome loyalty and support they have given.**

***Author stands and gives a bow***

* * *

**NSW**

* * *

"What the hell happened! Do you know how many men we lost in that attack!" Yelled the infantry general his voice hoarse. Shinjin messaged his weary temples. Nothing was going to plan, why had their god forsaken them? "It should have been a victory to us" He said to himself, not really listening to his general. "Are you even listening to me!?" A voice yelled from a distant place.

No, he wasn't. He mulled it about, why? Why would they sacrifice their main defense? Now they were sitting open, it would be a perfect opportunity for them. But they had no significant numbers. They would have to wait again for the Lumenion to build up their numbers. But to do so, they would need meat. Lots of it. Where would they get meat? The animals had been scattered for miles.

Shinjin spoke after awhile. "We need supplies, food in particular, where would we find such things?" The general paused, well at least he brought something worthwhile to the table. The general glanced down at the map. "Nearby villages to the south and west, we could even pick up more men, if we deal cards right." Shinjin nodded "Make it so."

The general watched as their leader walked out of the tent, lost in contemplation. The general sighed as he heard the sound of two Lumenion fighting each other. Then the normal sounds of one whimpering as it fell to the stronger one. Suddenly the grizzling sounds of several of them digging into flesh could be heard.

The general sighed and turned to one of his messengers, "Gather some men, we are going to go for a supply run." Once the required men had been gathered they left under the cover of darkness towards some nearby villages.

* * *

Kakashi bowed his head. He watched silently with several others, as Iruka's body was carried away. Everyone was affected, he was not a notorious ninja, at least not in the usual ways. He was not the man who took down twenty men with one blow. He was not the copy-cat ninja, he was not the noble blue beast of Konoha, nor the Avenger, or the White demon of Konoha.

He was none of these, yet, he was famous. Famous for his love, famous for his heart, for caring, for protecting and guiding so many young ninja of Konoha. For teaching his nindo, and his code of conduct. Kakashi looked out, so many body bags lined up in rows. The sounds of grieving kin could be heard wailing up from the depths of Konoha.

Widows were made that day. Sons and daughters lost were reported to parents. Children learned they now were orphans or had lost one of their precious parents that day. The laments of the demons only weighed the greif heavier. Kakashi felt a hand come to his shoulder. He turned to see Gai. Kakashi smiled beneath his mask. Gai was one of his oldest friends, how many things had they been through? Yet here they still stood here.

Sure at times Gai, could be...interesting to be with. More like embarrassing. But still he loved his friend dearly. Gai had bandages on both his one leg and arm. Even the noble blue beast could get scratched apparently. "Don't worry Kakashi, we'll get them back." Kakashi only nodded. He looked out at the weary faces around him.

Something hit him then, words flowed into his mind, emotions burned in his chest. He spoke, his voice picking up strength, commanding attention, people around him stopped what they were doing to listen. "I am tired of this, I am tired of all of this, look what we have done to ourselves!" He said motioning to the wall.

"We had to sacrifice our wall because we grew lax, because we didn't take the enemy seriously, because we assumed they were an easy force, that they were just a bunch of religious wack-jobs." He looked about "Well look about you? Is this the work of someone weaker then you? No, It is not! They are beating us! They are winning! They are walking all over us, and we are letting them! Do you feel proud? Do any of you want this?!"

There was a silence throughout them all. Kakashi took off his Hokage robe. Throwing it on the ground. "That jacket is supposed to be worn by the leader of Konoha, that is supposed to be me...but I feel like that is not the case, a leader would not let this happen, a leader would not assume this of the enemy, a leader would have seen this coming and protected you."

Kakashi shook his head. "We have lost" he paused looking to the vanishing view of Iruka's body bag. "Far to many" his voice breaking slightly as he fought the sob back. He shook his head as anger remerged. "We have learned far to many dark things about ourselves...us humans." He said quietly. "How selfish, and how pathetic we can be, how terrible we can be to each other, well...no more."

Kakashi turned towards the enemy camp. "It is time to end this, it is time to stop this now! We are going to attack tonight! We are going to attack with every last fiber of our being, we are going to make them pay! They will learn just what we can do, when we actually decide to start fighting in a war."

Kakashi turned looking down to all the still forms looking up to him. "When the sun rises tomorrow, it will rise to see blood staining the earth, and Konoha standing victorious over her defeated enemies, tell me who wants to join me? As we blind the sun itself with our anger." Naruto had to hand it to Kakashi, he could speak when he needed to.

* * *

So, that night they did not sleep, no they prepared themselves for battle. Sharpening their blades, and putting on their armor. Naruto pulled on every last bit he could manage as well. When he was finished he turned to Yume. They shared a knowing look. They did not say a word. There was no need. She wordlessly nodded and he nodded back, then turned he shoved off, his armor creaking.

Naruto lined up next to Kakashi, that was his place now that he was the Anbu general. Kakashi wore armor as well, most around him did. Naruto could see the fire burning in everyone's eyes, the excitement of the oncoming battle. Naruto turned his head to see Sasuke. He nodded to him as well. Sasuke wore armor that looked more samurai than ninja.

Kakashi turned to Naruto "are the demons ready?" he asked. "We are ready" spoke another voice. Kakashi turned to see Rebel, behind her spanning out was her pack. "Are you sure you want to go there? You may be recognized." She hardened her gaze as she stepped forward, "Then we shall be recognized as one of you, which is something I would be...happy to be."

Naruto spoke "Are you sure you want to? Knowing the news?" Kakashi glanced down "What news?" "He means the news of me being with young, what you call pregnant. I do not mind, I am sure I can protect myself quite well." "And if not, I will be there as well." Said One-Who-Follows. Kakashi nodded "very well." Around them, the elks lined up behind Arthis, the deer behind Loresin.

Mestat and Fenrir stood at the front of the wolves. All around the demons lined behind their leaders. Their faces solemn, their bodies waiting, ready to charge. Kakashi met gazes with each leader before he turned. Bee and Gaara stood equal lengths away from him, their men grouped up behind them. Kakashi spoke, "Let's finish this."

* * *

A single forest Lumenion grazed on the outskirts of the tents. He picked his head up, sensing something. His back was to the fire lights from inside the camp, so he peered into darkness, the stars and moon were dim, casting no light. He snorted and went back to grazing. Then from out of the darkness, four figures emerged, it was some of the field Lumenion.

They were different, they walked with a purpose, their flanks were filled out and they seemed to be... glowing with strength, they were not like the others within the camp, faded and hostile. He lifted his head and moved towards them. They kept padding forward, but something was off, the way their eyes stared up at him, he was confused, what was going on?

He looked past them, he could discern figures in the darkness...many of them, he scented, he was hit with a wall of scents. Human and demons, it was the enemy! But why did the field Lumenion not give warning? He took a quick intake of breath, but he was cut off. The Lumenion swarmed him and his mind went blank as life was shredded from his body.

* * *

Kakashi glared out into the enemy camp, they were weak and out numbered, and they were shit out of luck. He activated his sharingan, then he concentrated two chidori, one each of his hands. They crackled with his increasing rage, he then charged the enemy. Ninja and demon spanning out behind him. Like a ghostly wave, they bared down on their enemy. Ready to crash over them and suck them under with their might, then spit them back up and thrash them upon rocks.

The final battle was beginning, the last stand, the last deciding factor. It all came spiraling down to this moment, and Kakashi was damned sure, that they would make it count.

* * *

**NSW**


	92. Blind Sun

**Life As A Fox**

**Chapter 91**

**NSW**

* * *

Shinjin awoke suddenly, something was wrong. He sat up on his bed, which was a lowly reed mat, sleeping on that honed his disobedience to his god. He sat patiently, peering into the darkness of his tent, which lay bare of almost everything except basic necessities. The ground had a tremor going through it, a tremor that was building.

Vaguely he heard men yelling outside his tent. Muffled and increasing in urgency. With a slight haziness to his brain from awakening at such a late hour he stumbled towards the door flap, pulling his robes tighter. He fumbled with the cord binding, but with a vicious tug he snapped it open. Peering out into the night he searched vigorously for what was wrong.

He was almost knocked over by a few running Lumenion. The growled and snapped at each other as they sprinted past. Steaks of white bounding over the ground. The tremor was growing. What was going on? An earthquake? Was the rest of their wall falling down? But then he heard it. Like the rumbling of a giant. He could feel something big coming, crashing through the darkness.

Fear hit him, the fear of knowing that something large was coming but not knowing what it was, not being able to see it and defend himself from it. Then blue light crackled to life. Lightning screeching like birds illuminated the darkness. He ran forward towards it to see what was happening. Fire was breaking out, as some of the tent caught flame.

The bonfires lit up the scene that lay before him. It was an attack. Vicious and blood thirsty the enemies doled out their revenge on their unprepared forces. Shinjin turned and yelled, alerting all who were still sleeping, although he had no idea how they were. The camp was in chaos and disarray. What with the enemies and everyone trying to defend.

Shinjin turned when he heard a roaring. Expecting it to be a demon or other creature, he was thoroughly stunned when the noise was revealed to be admitted from a man. Wild silver hair streaming behind him like a mane. In both hands crackled lightning, as if he wielded it like a thunder god. He wore a black mask covering up his mouth and nose, but his eyes were visible.

One had a vicious scar raptured across it, beneath the marred flesh a red eye spinning off kilter as it focused in on him. He stepped forward like a lion stalking its prey. His arms hanging down at his sides, clenched into fists. He walked slightly hunched over like a beast, he spoke. His voice dark, and saturated with anger. "You...you are the one who has started this war."

Shinjin said nothing. The man continued. "Your god is the god of humans, do you want to know who my god is?" the man asked. "He is the god of war, and now he's on my side!" the man spat at him then his hands flamed to life with two crackling orbs of lightning. Shinjin backed away, it was as if a demon had taken form of a humans body.

But luck was on his side yet. Suki leaped in front of him a long wooden tube held in her hands. She brought it to her lips. Was it an instrument of some kind? What was it? She pushed him back and she exhaled a quick breath upon the opening of the tube. From it shot a single needle. In his rage the man did not bother blocking such a puny weapon.

The needle dug into his shoulder. "What did you just do?" Shinjin asked as Suki pulled him "saving your life, get out of here if you can't fight! Your god is not going to protect you from everything!" She shoved him forward so hard he lost his footing, but he managed to correct them. She turned and using one of her blades defended herself from two of the enemies.

She easily forced her was through their defense then stabbed one in the gut. The man crumpled to the ground clutching at his stomach as blood wept from it. She turned, removing her blade and spinning in one fluid motion and slit the throat of the other. She then rose. "I said move it priest!" He turned and with her covering him they ran to safety.

* * *

Kakashi staggered something was wrong, his head was spinning and his body felt so weak. Energy sapping from his limbs, he sluggishly pulled the senbon from his shoulder. Of course he now realized, it was poisoned. He swore, as he felt himself drop to his knees. He heard a feral growl, he turned expecting a lumenion. It was, but it was Rebel.

Her and her pack circled around him, forming a protective ring about him. "What's wrong!" She snapped. "Poisoned, I need to get out of here" He managed to say. He felt his chakra coil falter and dim. He groaned as he closed his sharingan. Maybe he shouldn't have been so brash. Rebel growled as she flung herself at a nearby Lumenion, tearing into its shoulder and neck.

The Lumenion screamed and fell to the ground. Rebel finished it off then returned. "Free-One! Go get Wolfheart!" "No need!" He yelled coming in "I saw what happened, I had to fight hard to get here as quick as I could, thank-you for covering." Rebel nodded. "Kakashi what's wrong?" "Poisoned, I can't...I can't feel my chakra coil it's compromised."

Naruto growled. "Can you stand?" Kakashi reached for Naruto and pulled himself up, bracing himself using Naruto. Naruto nodded "good, stay low, you guys cover us!" The Lumenion growled in agreement and surrounded him. The group helped the staggering Hokage back towards the majority of their line. Konoha nin parted and formed tight rings around their leader as he was led back through the line.

Medics rushed forward. "What's wrong?" "His chakra coil is compromised." They stared at Naruto as if he spoke pig latin. "V..Very well, we will do what we can-" "Do what you can! I did not retire and become the head medic for you to 'do what you can' he's the Hokage dammit, it is our duty to make sure he is ready to fight."

Naruto turned to see a familiar sight. Tsunade, the retired 5th Hokage, the slug princess. She decided to join the fray once more. But as a medic of course. Kakashi looked up "Thank-you Tsunade" "Don't thank me, you are lucky I don't whack you over the head for being an idiot and rushing in like that, men, all of you are moronic hot heads."

Kakashi sighed. Once more he was being punished for being so brash. "I apologize" "Do it later, let's get you fixed up first." He nodded and followed her. Kakashi paused "Wolfheart, go get Sasuke and support the front line, keep them pushing forward." Naruto nodded "Yes sir." Tsunade froze. "The Uchiha" she spat. "He's changed" Naruto said looking up at her.

She stared at him, flabbergasted. "H..How can you say that?" "Because it's the truth, he changed for real this time, he discovered love, and forgiveness, and I have forgiven him as well, without him, I would not have lived the life I have managed to live now, I would not have me Yume or would have been able to be with her."

Tsunade nodded slowly, understanding what he was saying. "Very well, if you trust him again, I will let you." "Quit yakking and back to healing! Head medic nin! Pah! Just another gossiping old woman standing around when people need to be healed!" Naruto turned to Gomeg. "Gomeg...run. just...run" Gomeg glared at him "I will not."

Tsunade glared down at the demon who dared to call her old. "Excuse me, old-timer, but what did you just say? Did you just call me a-" "Yes, yes I did, it's the truth and you know it, now get over yourself and back to healing, I don't fear you any more than you fear me, our duties are to the flesh not the tongue...unless the tongue is harmed as well."

Gomeg then turned and scurried back to where injuried were being gathered to be taken to Konoha again. Tsunade stared at the badger. "I must say...I have respect for that little creature." "We all do, now excuse me, I have a war to finish." Tsunade nodded and turned yelling at nearby medics.

* * *

Sasuke ran his blade once more through another enemy. To his left Bee spun using his eight blades to kill another as well. Sasuke waited for Bee to fling the dead body off his sword before turning to Sasuke. "You know" he said turning and punching a man in the jaw, knocking him down. He stepped on the struggling man and began to bury his sword into him.

"Some day Uchiha, we should have a re-match, my blades against yours." Sasuke smirked and turned. Sending a chidori stream through three enemies. "I would be glad to." "Here's an idea, how about you kill enemies instead of talking about fighting each other!" Gaara roared at them as he crushed an enemy with his sand.

Sasuke pursed his lips as he heard the snap of the man's spine and the muffled screaming stopped. "He's right, lets have a competition now, first to ten kills wins!" Bee exclaimed. Sasuke and him stared at each other than they scurried forth like two kids in a candy shop. Gaara sighed and put his hand to his forehead. Why? He asked himself, why oh fucking why?

Naruto broke through his thoughts. "Gaara!" He yelled. "yes?" Gaara said turning. "I need Sasuke where is he!?" Gaara pointed towards said nin. Sasuke and Bee were arguing over who killed the man who was suspended on both of their blades. "I killed him first!" Sasuke yelled. "He was still twitching!" "He was twitching because my sword was imbedded in his spinal cord!"Sasuke roared at Bee.

Naruto stared at the duo then back to Gaara. "Really?" he asked Gaara. Gaara sighed and nodded. "Sasuke!" Naruto yelled breaking the two out of their argument. "I need you to help me push the lines forward!" Bee and Gaara nodded "Got it, I will go tell my men." "Same yo" Bee said turning. But not before him and Sasuke shared a look that could only be described as 'this is not over.'

"Nice to see you making friends" Naruto said. Sasuke smiled "yeah, we kind of get along, in a weird way." "Well that's good, but...CAN WE PLEASE CONCENTRATE ON THE BATTLE! WE ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ENEMY CAMP!" Sasuke quirked his head "no, we are kind of on the outskirt of it. Naruto spun and took Sasuke's legs from under him.

"Oi! What was that for!" "For being a complete and absolute moron!" Naruto yelled back. "Let's go" Naruto said shoving off. Sasuke running after him. With a loud bellowing Naruto turned to see Arthis lead a charge with a large group of his own. Bursting forward, their antlers brought down as their legs pumped and bounded over the ground.

Their massive build pushing all others out of their way. They snorted and bucked as they built momentum. But Naruto from the corner of his eye saw an ambush waiting. They would be blindsided and leveled with the force of that earth users wave. Or make that many earth users. Naruto rushed forward sending out a warning, but it went unheard.

Arthis and his men were focused on the group of ninja that were being used as bait. "ARTHIS!" Naruto screamed. Arthis, faltered in his step, hearing the urgency. But it was too late. The elks turned to see a wave of fire and earth rain down upon them. Naruto and Sasuke rushed forward. Sasuke sending a chidori stream hoping to diminish the force of the earth jutsu.

But it hit, with a great sound, Naruto heard many antlers and bones break as they were blind sides. He heard bellowing and screaming of elks. The ninja who were 'bait' rushed forward with knives at the ready, ready to kill of the survivors. Naruto charged forward, his wolf's brigade jutsu forming by instinct. He leaped over the fallen bodies of his comrades and formed a small line of defense in front of them growling, snapping and lunging he beat them back.

Sasuke was keeping the earth and fire users blockaded off by building a wall of intense fire. He then turned and the wall spanned and completely protected them for a few moments at least. Naruto turned to Arthis and them. Arkill, stood over the fallen body of his grandfather. Arkill's leg was held at an awkward angle. Broken, along with one of his proud antlers.

The look on Arkill's face told him that Arthis was parted from this world. The other remaining elks forced themselves to whatever limbs that were still intact. Bellowing they called out to their fallen leader. Naruto's eyes were laced with tears as his soul line pinned in misery at the loss. But he shook himself and readjusted himself.

They were in war, they were in battle. Arkill snorted and pounded his hoof into the ground. "They will pay!" He trumpeted. As he reared back on his hind legs. Which Naruto wondered how he did such a thing, with his one leg broken. He spoke "take down that wall, I will finish the last charge of my grandfather!" Sasuke glanced to Naruto.

Naruto turned, forming many clones. "Not alone you aren't" Arkill snorted, "so the wolf and elk run together." "No, the wolf and elk hunt together." Naruto said grinning. Arkill nodded and fumbled forward, the others remaining following, resolve in their eyes. Sasuke turned and closed his eyes, releasing the fire with a last burst, that blinded the enemies.

"I got the one's on the left." Sasuke said and charged forward alone, his sword drawn as he faced off against the earth and fire users. Naruto and the elks charged forward and attacked the men who were still reeling from the glare of light. Arkill brought his head up, a man bayoneted on his one good antler. He tossed his head removing, the screaming, bleeding man.

He thudded in the ground, his guts sprawled out beneath him, blood pooling from him. Arkill turned and reared out with his hooves. Hard as rock and sharp he delivered blow after blow to any unlucky human who foolishly got near him. The same was true for all other elks. If they had no horns they pounded in skulls with their hooves, if their leg was broken they used the other.

No matter what, no matter how injured or broken they were, they finished their charge. Finally when all were dead Naruto quickly escorted them back to their line. They limped and were saddened by their loss, but they held their battered heads high, for they had finished what they started.

* * *

Night passed by slowly. The battle raged on, and on. But the only witnesses to their struggle were the distant stars and blurry moon. Slowly, tent line by tent line they pushed the enemy back. The ground was muddy and ran red with the blood of the fallen. So much blood, so many bodies. Lumenion fell at a faster and faster rate.

The fliers seemed to have fled. So did some enemy nin. But Naruto made sure none escaped. None would escape the punishment they deserved. Besides those who abandon their own are worse then scum. Naruto panted as he turned his head. Which in itself was a struggle, his armor seemed to weigh so heavy on him. Sasuke stayed by his side.

By now they were with the horse demons. Their ability to use chakra and earth helped out greatly for Sasuke. Lightning type users could re-charge off of each other. Imasen was a great and proud beast. He seemed to get stronger as the war raged on. His hooves falling harder and faster. His lightning crackling louder and brighter.

He would at times forge on ahead on his own then come back as if to say 'come on, keep up.' Naruto shook his head, this horse was incredible. Sasuke dashed ahead and began to cut down enemies. Imasen turned to Naruto. "That man, I like him, he fights like a true stallion." "He has the attitude for one." Naruto muttered.

He turned his head once more scanning for enemies, his instinct telling him that he was missing something, all of them were. Suddenly a fresh wave of enemies broke through, they had been in waiting, all of them perfectly rested and ready to go. While most of them were tired and exhausted. Naruto bared his fangs and stood at the ready.

Instinctively, they all formed a line, and braced themselves, facing off against the fresh wave of enemy nin. Naruto turned his head and scanned about him, seeing if he could spot any of his friends. He saw Lee, and Gai, Gai was bleeding from some wounds. He spotted Neji and Shikamaru on the other end, both of them had wounds as well.

Naruto turned back and let out a feral growl. "Remember" he spoke, "Remember our oath, when the sun rises it will rise to see us victorious!" With new found strength they surged ahead to join in the fray. Time suspended to a slow tick, it was as though he were running in water. Sound drifted away, he stared ahead at the incoming enemy, who were coming in closer and closer.

The faster Lumenion surged ahead and leaped upon some of the faster demons. Cheetah and tigers clashing with Lumenion before anyone else. Naruto gritted his teeth and forced himself to go faster. Leaping up and clashing with a Lumenion in mid-air. The moon seemed to shine even brighter at that moment.

* * *

Neji ducked and weaved underneath several attacks, on instinct he went into his signature defense, his version of the main branches eight trigram palm rotation. Blocking several enemies and pushing others back. he protected himself. Scanning the field with his Byakugan he searched for hidden enemies. He saw none but he did see a chakra signature that was familiar.

It was Hanabi, but she was in one of the tents. Was it possible that she got kidnapped? But then he saw that she was with others. Ah, maybe she was confronting the enemies in the tent. By the chakra signature he could tell they were no Konoha nin. But she was not fighting, they were all standing idle. What was going on?

He beat down and killed the enemies that stood in his way without really thinking. He saw them as an annoyance at the moment. He ran forward, trying to remain hidden as possible. He ran to the tents side, making sure to hide his chakra signature. He listened in on the conversation she apparently was having.

"I have done everything on my side of the agreement, and yet you cannot manage simple tasks that I give you." Hanabi spoke. "Taking Konoha is no simple task" Another woman said. Her voice icy and cruel sounding. "Apparently, even kidnapping a child seemed difficult for you, how on earth I ever thought you could manage this war is beyond me."

"Don't forget that you helped plan this endeavor, you and that father of yours." The woman spat. Neji's breath caught in his throat, so the main branch was behind everything! "That is right, we did help you, we paid for that child to be kidnapped, which you ended up losing, we paid for your research and the mining equipment for those weapons of yours, and yet you still manage to be utterly weak and helpless."

The woman was silent for a moment, he could only guess she was seething in rage. "Do not speak to me like so, you are but a child!" "Silence your tongue! I will not be spoken to like so! I am Hyuga Hanabi, and I will not be taken down with the likes of you!" Hanabi spat. "As I thought, here to kill me, to cover up your clan infractions to the village."

"Smart little cunt you are." Hanabi said. The woman chuckled. "Go head and try little girl, see if you can fight as well as you speak." Hanabi rushed forward. But the woman evaded, in the small confines of the tent, Hanabi was dishindered by it and the thick ermine traveling cloak she wore. Neji managed to look through a hold in the tent.

He watched as the woman with a speed he did not think she could posses, she was a known scientist not a ninja! But apparently she kept her abilities hidden. Her chakra coil roared to life. Neji spotted a child sitting in the corner of the tent. A boy, no more than three sitting quietly, his eyes vacant, as he watched his mother with a small grin on his face.

He was young, he did not understand the severity of the situation. He did not know that the knife that his mother held and was stabbing into shoulder of Hanabi was a cruel thing to do. Blood dyed the beautiful white fur cape. Hanabi choked out, in rage and pain. She swung herself around. She struck the woman in the chest, missing a tenketsu point, but Neji knew it would still be painful for the woman.

The woman grimaced but stood her ground. Hanabi activated her Byakugan. Neji cursed. Hanabi gasped, she was frozen, because he knew that Hanabi was staring directly at him. The woman took her chance. She came in, slicing the blade across Hanabi's eyes. Hanabi let out a blood curdling scream. Neji looked away, his eyes closed, just as Hanabi's would be for the rest of her life.

The woman did not stop there though. "You are so precious to your clan no? The heir? Your duty is like most privileged animals with breeding, to be paraded around and kept close, then sold off at your owners whim." She chuckled as she grabbed Hanabi by the hair. "Such beauty, even when bleeding." She sighed "In truth I saved you, your father would have married you off then forced you to bed a man until his seed took root in your rotten womb, you are nothing but prime breeding stock, forced to stand as whatever man your father would allow, mounts you."

"I will save you from such pain." The woman said, and stabbed Hanabi in the stomach, but lower, Neji could also tell that Hanabi would never produce an heir as well, her womb destroyed in a single thrust of a knife. Blood welled from the wound. Hanabi clutched, doubled over. The woman chuckled, Hanabi keened and whimpered like a fox caught in a trap.

The woman growled "Silence" she said then hit Hanabi over the head with the blunt of the blade. Knocking her unconscious. "Come" the woman said holding out her bloodied hand to the child. Wordlessly he toddled over to her. "Mommy will always protect you" she said sweetly, such a contrast to her usual voice. " "Lets go."

Then with that she walked out the back tent flap. Neji backed away, he looked up, no one. He turned and wanted to try and track the woman but he ended up catching himself. Lee and Gai were back to back surrounded by Lumenion. By the looks of it they had been trough much. Neji dove in, helping out his close friends.

Gai panted as he spoke "About time you join in, they made a dagger and split us up, then they just kept splitting us up, surrounding us, these damned creatures." From out of the forest came more of the large deer like ones. Snorting and tossing their antlered heads. "This is insane, we need to get together, if we are separated like this of course they will overwhelm us!

"Not our fault really, with Kakashi down we have no one to stand behind and follow, the sand follow Gaara, the lightning follow Bee, the demons follow Naruto, but us? Who are we to turn to?" "Kakashi is still not back?" Neji asked as he struck down three Lumenion. Gai and Lee captured Lumenions heads and twisted and snapped them or crushed them with their might.

Lee flipped up and around, landing on ones back, breaking it's spine. He stomped on its head ending its misery. "What is the news on him?" "same thing, his chakra is down, and not responding to anything." Neji froze, that was not good. "What will we do?" "Fight? What more can we do?" Neji nodded and bent over as he ducked underneath a leaping Lumenion and Gai's leg who struck the Lumenion, collapsing in its chest.

"Nice one" Neji commented. "Thanks" Gai said and roared as he wheeled around and grabbed two at once and smashed their heads together, brain matter splattering on his face. Neji swallowed back the bile that rose in his mouth. He never had a strong stomach for these things, which is weird considering his profession.

"All right you Lumenion, lets see if you can handle Konoha's noble blue beast!" Gai yelled, covered in sweat, grime and blood, some of it his own. Neji smiled, his teacher even after all these years was still the same. "Hai! Gai-sensei!" Lee roared. Neji shook his head "Idiots" he said as he turned and together the three of them stood back to back against each other, facing the enemy together.

* * *

Hanabi felt hands shaking her awake, and being lifted. She moaned, the pain was dulled for a moment. She broke through her fuzzy mind. "Who are you" she asked. "It is me" It was her father. "I am sorry father" she said. Knowing that her father was accessing her wounds and coming to the conclusion that she was no longer of use to him.

"She did this?" Hanabi nodded "One thing father, your brothers spawn heard and saw everything." "I see" was all he said his voice soft. Which was never. "You served me well, better than the other, you were so loyal, my favorite pet, it is a shame to lose you." "Wait" Hanabi said as she felt the cold metal of a knife near her throat. "Tell me, let me die hearing you say one thing, tell me, tell me you loved me, please?"

She whispered, her voice soft, all she did, everything was to hear her father say that one thing, to say that he was proud of her, and that he loved her. Instead of the usual thing he said. "You will hear it when you deserve it." She felt her father lean in, his mahogany scent drifting in her nostrils. Making her feel safe and secure.

He spoke. "You will hear it when you deserve it" Then she felt nothing as the blackness went on for an eternity.

* * *

Hiashi rose up from the body. She lay, her body enveloped in the pristine folds of her ermine cape. She looked as if she was shrouded with a cloud. Her skin, pale and soft lay serenely against it. Her blood, so stark and vibrant lay upon her marbled flesh like paint tossed upon a tapestry. He sighed a heavy sigh, to him it was like killing his champion hound or best stallion.

She was important to him, very important, but when the time came he easily severed his bonds to her. Though some regret to the loss of so much work he had put in sireing and rearing her he did not mind, there were plenty of bastards that he had that he could 'bring out' of the woodwork. The one boy that he had with that kitchen hand, he was 11. That boy was the best bet.

Hiashi sighed, there was only one other loose end to take care of, well two, the blonde bitch, but he would get her soon enough, the one near at hand and more pressing was Neji. True he had some peculiarities towards the boy, but that was only because of the respect he had to the boys father. His own brother, that was all. But now that respect would have to be cut as well, the boy knew, so the boy needed to go.

* * *

"Neji!" Lee yelled as his leg was grabbed by a Lumenion and tugged. It's fangs digging into Lee's flesh. Lee groaned and turned punching at the creature. The Lumenion with a whine let go and collapsed to its side. Neji ducked down and kneeled next to Lee, grabbing his arm and hauling it over his shoulder, bracing his friend up.

Lee grimaced but smiled. "Thanks" "You're welcome" Neji said. "Gai!" Neji called out. "We have to retreat! Find a bigger group! We can't stay out here I told you!" Gai turned "No! We can handle these things! I do not retreat I am no coward! The noble blue beast does not cower to any!" "Damn you and your pride!" Neji yelled.

Gai was so...as Shikamaru would put it troublesome! He had this sense of 'honor' and believe that if he retreated or ran away he would lose it, the man was as hard headed as an ox and as reckless as a buck in rut. Neji grunted "Then what do you want us to do! Lee needs to go get his leg checked out!" Neji glanced, bone poked through and so much blood. Lee looked a little pale.

"Go on! I can handle them!" "That is suicide! You are by yourself!" Gai sighed and stopped, he bit his thumb and summoned his turtle. "Now I am not! Now go!" Neji nodded and turned, hauling Lee with him. "Dammit why are you so heavy!" "I am made of muscle! I am sorry!" Lee proclaimed. Neji ran to the medic area, it was in chaos.

Neji managed to get Sakura's attention. "Lee! What..." She grabbed Lee from Neji and laid him down, a medic nin began to heal him. "How is it out there?" "We are in confusion, we have no one to join us together, we are all battling separate battles, which is letting them outnumber us." Sakura nodded. "Is Kakashi healed yet?"

Sakura shook her head. "No, he has gone back to Konoha with the others, he is making plans with the Anbu that were left there." Neji sighed. "Naruto?" "He is with the horse demons, they have served as a good stable line, there are many and they have managed to hold them back. But I fear the enemy is leading them on, falling back so that they can surround them."

"Thats their plan, surround and keep weakening till they fall." "I need to get back out there, we left Gai alone." "Go!" Sakura yelled at him. Neji left, and Sakura turned to all that lay before her. She took a deep breath and exhaled, she was the student of the slug princess, she could handle this. She rushed over to said slug princess and helped her.

"Is it true?" Tsunade said to her. "Is what?" "That they have no one to lead them?" Sakura nodded slowly. Tsunade sighed "Well, in times when the current Hokage is unable to go on, the previous Hokage, if still alive should step in." Sakura's eyes widened, she couldn't be serious! Tsunade turned "Gomeg" she said calmly but loudly.

"I am going in, you are going to have to handle everything." Gomeg sighed "Thanks, just what I need, one less person who knows what they are doing" "I have faith in you, you old grump." "Look who's talking, very well go!" Gomeg said waving her off. Tsunade chuckled and turned. She leaned down "You stay here as well, Gomeg needs your help."

"Yes Lady" "Shizune!" Tsunade said turning. "Yes?" she asked a large pig walking behind Shizune, holding bandages in her mouth and a saddle with two sacks that hung on either side of the pig, the sacks contained many a medical device. This pig, who still wore the pearl necklace and red shirt was Ton-ton, now fully grown.

She came to Shizune's mid thighs and was a perfectly docile and loyal creature, more a dog than a pig. Tsunade walked forward, "I am going out, they need me, they need someone to lead them, I need you to stay here, I want you to do what I told you to do, do you understand?" Shizune nodded. The moon and nearby torches lighting her features, showing the grim face.

Tsunade turned removing her jacket, revealing her normal gray-green tank-top shirt that she always wore. She stepped forward, and it seemed as though she transformed, where once stood a medical ninja, a practitioner of saving lives, now stood a powerful ninja, the last of the great sannin, the previous Hokage to the village hidden in the leaves.

Her hazel brown eyes glowed in the firelight, her hair flowed behind her as a wind picked up and tossed it about behind her. She walked forward, ninja noticed her coming and parted for her, then stood behind her, following her. She was their leader now. Tsunade cracked her knuckles then looked at the enemy line, studying it.

She chuckled then with her violent speed and strength, she punched the ground, sending a wave of earth hurtling towards the enemy. They screamed and ducked out of the way, some making it others...others did not. Then with that the tide shifted, With Tsunade at the forefront, they pushed the enemy back once more, taking the camp at a faster and faster rate.

* * *

Suki saw this, "It seems I have need to use the poison once more." She stroked her sons delicate face as he slept. She had given him a sleeping draught, she did not wish for him to see such things. She leaned down and kissed her son's forehead. "Everything I have done is for you, my Teiku, know that mommy will always love you, sleep my son, and waken to brighter days once more."

She turned and left her son in his safe place, hidden. She surged forward, Shinjin was gone, he left to join with the general and men he had sent away the previous night. They would flee and lay in wait, re-build re-arm, re-make the war new, someday once more he would return, and take this bloody village. Suki landed she would use every ninja ability she had.

The old Hokage beat away several men, crushing them with each blow. Suki growled and stayed hidden, bringing out her faithful blow dart, she would end this Hokage like she did the other. They were both the same, enraged, in their 'battle-gods' mode, thinking nothing so small would harm them. Suki took a deep breath, judged the distance, and waited for the right moment.

There it was! She let fly the dart. Tipped with the poison that would surpress chakra for days, maybe weeks, and in some cases, forever. But something happened. Tsunades hand flew up and grabbed the dart from mid-air. "Do you think I received the name of a great sannin by falling for such things?" Tsunade turned.

"Poison no doubt, I am guessing this is what you used for Kakashi, hnm, If I send this in, my student will be able to make an antidote for your poison, what do you say to that?" Suki said nothing, not revealing her location. "Come now, step up, come clean, at least admit to it." Suki did nothing once more. The Hokage got angry.

She placed the senbon into her pouch. Then she proceeded to charge forward. Suki leaped at the last moment, evading the Hokages attack. Tsunade whirled around her fists at the ready, her arms swinging. Suki like a lemur or cat dodged and ducked beneath them. Tsunade gritted her teeth she has been to long without practice, she was old, she would admit, her guise did not fool anyone anymore.

"Tell me! Why! Why start this war! Why do all of this!" Tsunade yelled at her. "Because! Within your village is a demon, a demon that took my lover! The father of my child! I would do anything to make that demon pay!" Tsunade stared at the woman. "You are an uncaring fool! Look at all the lives you have taken in your blind pursuit! Look how many families you have destroyed, peace treaties you have corrupted, the fourth ninja war was to end all this, and now you have made us return to how it was before!"

"You did this! You caused this all! Because you allowed one demon into your village! Trusted it! Revered it! All you had to do was kill it like any other would do! But no! It is your own fault!" Suki screamed at the Hokage. Tsunade hardend her gaze. "Silence your whoring tongue you bitch! You are a moron and have no idea what that demon is, you think it's all the same, that you have everything classified into it's proper fields, well you are just as wrong as any country bumpkin."

Suki's mouth hung open, no one had talked to her like so. "You think you are the only one who has lost anyone? Only one to lose a lover? I have, I have lost a lover, I have lost a little brother, I have lost everyone I put my faith in, everyone...everyone accept that demon, that demon, is like no other in this world, you have no idea how special he is, he is not a demon to us, he is our future, he is our hopes, dreams and aspirations, and for him I would gladly do anything for."

Suki hardened her gaze "Then you shall die for him!" "Come then, bring what you have scientist!" Tsunade yelled, arms wide open. Suki smirked 'All of them have underestimated me.' Suki with a flick of her wrist, threw a shuriken, it passed by Tsunade cheek, grazing it ever so slightly. Suki smirked. "We scientists always like to back up our hypothesis, I believed you are going to die, now with that shuriken, I know you will die."

Tsunade lifted her hand and healed the grazed skin. "Even healing it won't stop the poison." "It suppresses your chakra coil correct?" Suki nodded "But what if the person has chakra contained in another part of their body, not the coil?" Suki furrowed her brow, that was an unprecedented idea. Tsunade took a breath, and exhaling, the diamond on her forehead, which Suki thought was a tattoo or body ornamentation of some sort, expanded and grew, transforming into something else.

Two tendrils sunk down encasing her eyes, more markings appeared like vines upon her skin. Tsunade roared as a chakra presence expanded and grew heavy. Suki shivered, such power! Tsunade bit her thumb and then slammed it into the ground. "It has been awhile" she said quietly, "But seeing as I am the slug princess, I had better live to my name, come to life Katsuyu."

"A summoning" Suki said. Then with a great could of smoke, and a shaking of the earth as a new large mass fell upon it, a great slug, large and magnifying rose up into the night sky. Suki backed away. "Let's go!" Tsunade said leaping up onto Katsuyu. "Yes my lady" The slug said, in a surprisingly soft, feminine voice. Suki measured the slug with a glance, her mind trying to figure out the mass of the slug.

She then turned and ran to the supply tent. "Running away? How typical." Tsunade said and bided Katsuyu to go. "My lady, shall I heal you? I sense a poison." "Later, now is not the time, I have my back-up." Katsuyu nodded then moved forward, finding it hard in the tight quarters. Suki ran into the cooking supplies tent, when the cook was killed, they had to resort to making simple meals, one of the meals was the stable of bread like biscuit, salt bread, it was tasty and very filling.

It required lots of salt, so they had a fresh shipment in a few days ago, so there was large amounts of it, and it looked like enough for her plan. She ran out of the tent. She saw a group of ninja "You! get over here, I have a plan for that slug!" The man followed her, together they collected it all. "Are any of you wind users?" she asked.

Three raised their hands. "Good" she bidded them to come forward. They leaned in as she whispered her plan.

* * *

"Ninegame! Hold on I'm coming!" Gai yelled as he leaped into the fray, saving his summoning, who was hiding in his shell as the Lumenion were gnawing on it trying to get to him. Gai beat them away and pulled his friend from the trouble he was in. Holding Ninegame above his head he threw his friend at the nearest one.

Ninegame screamed as he bounced from Lumenion's head to Lumenions body, ping ponging like a child's toy. When he finally came to a will wished stop he slowly stretched his head out of his shell. "Never! Ever! Do that to me again!" Gai smiled sheepishly "Sorry...it worked." Ninegame growled at him as he tried to set himself up-right.

"Get me off of my back! I am too old for this!" Gai smirked and nodded bending down to pick up his friend. "You aren't that old" "yes I am, my grandson, is now a grandfather! Do you know what that make me! A great-great-great-grandfather! Do you know how many children, and grandsons, and great grandsons and great-great grandsons and, great-great-great-grandsons and daughters I have? Turtles lay eggs! up to 100 at a time! And we elders have to sit at all the naming ceremonies and present gifts for each one!"

"Oh brother" Gai said placing his hand on his head as he rubbed his chin. "what are you doing standing there! Help me up!" "are you done with that 'I am too old rant!?'" Gai screamed at him. "Quiet, I have every right! And you as my summoning have to deal!" Gai sighed and leaned down and picked Ninegame up. "Look out!"

Ninegame cried out. Gai turned his head and looked, a Lumenions's jaws clamping unto his shoulder and neck before he even could comprehend what was going on. The Lumenion knocked him down. Gai fell bacwards, knocking Ninegame away, still stuck on his back. Ninegame cursed and swore trying to flip himself. Gai managed to get an arm free.

He brought his hand up and grabbed the Lumenion tossing it to the side. A great weight lifting off of him. He felt blood warm and wet cascading down his shoulder and neck. Staining his clothes. He pushed himself up, the effort making him dizzy and light-headed. His limbs felt weak. "Gai!" A voice screamed, he turned his fuzzy head only to see Neji, he smiled slowly.

He turned his head to see the Lumenion shake itself and charge once more, it's eyes angry, it's fangs dyed with blood and snapping viciously. He was calm though, no alarm did he have. He felt so relaxed, and content, he wanted to close his eyes and sleep. Neji struck the Lumenion down. It died with a final gasp. Neji turned a silence descending in their area.

All around them lay the fallen Lumenion. "Gai" Neji said rushing to him. "You are losing too much blood, come on." Gai shooed him away. "I'm fine, get Ninegame off his back, before he makes us all go deaf with his screaming." Neji against his better instincts did so. He went over to Ninegame and flipped him right side.

"Thank-you" Ninegame said and walked over to Gai, "I told you to look out!" Ninegame said rapping Gai over this head with his sharp turtle beak. "Ninegame! He is hurt enough!" "Oh, a little more won't kill him." Neji rolled his eyes. "Let's get him to the medic tents. "Look!" Ninegame said pointing. Neji turned it was Katsuyu.

"So Tsunade has entered the fray." "That she has, good, good, this is excellent, we have someone to lead us." Neji nodded. "How am I going to do this?" Neji asked himself. "Allow me." A voice spoke. Neji turned to see his uncle, he bowed his head even though he hated his uncle, after what he did to Hinata, but he had to follow the clan.

"Uncle, I did not know you had entered battle." He said pretending he did not know a thing of their disloyalty, playing dumb. "Of course I did, for my clan, now allow me, we are both Konoha nin are we not?" Neji nodded "yes we are, I suppose, thank-you." Neji turned away, "If you could grab one shoulder, I can get the-" Neji didn't finish his sentence, a cold chill entered him. Icy and metallic, wait metallic? Oh, it was blood, in his mouth.

He turned, pain starting to register. He looked down, a short sword, one of the enemies, pointed through his chest. He gasped, breath coming hard to him. Then with a sicekning sound, the blade was pulled from him. He fell to his knees, his strength vanished. Gai roared, getting to his knees woozily. Ninegame came to his side.

"Hyuga! You traitor!" He roared. "Come now, go quietly, don't be so brash and annoying, die peacefully and quietly." "Gai" Neji choked out. Gai looked to his student. Hiashi took his chance. He struck out at Gai. Ninegame shot up, catching the blade with his vulnerable neck, protecting his contract partner to the very bitter end.

He died with only a nod and a wink to Gai, "Now I don't have to worry about all those confounded names." Ninegame said in a harsh whisper. Gai roared as he fell beside his fallen summoning and former student. Neji still breathed yet. "You will pay for this Hiashi!" Gai choked out. "No I don't think I will, seeing as you all are dying, good evening, you fiught so valient against the enemy, but sadly, they over took you, ah well."

Hiashi said and turned leaving them. Gai roared he turned to Neji, scooping up his student in his arms. "Neji" he whispered harshly. "Sensai, I told oyu, you were an idiot." Gai chuckled, "come on, that's...thats no way to talk, at a time like this." "We..we need to warn them of Hiashi, of his disloyalty, the entire clan, the main branch, they planned everything."

"Everything?" Gai said, rasping. "Everything..." "Hold on Neji, hold on, let me..." Gai dipped his finger in some of his blood. He laid a shaking hand on the ground. Summoning a small turtle, about the size of his hand. "A messaging turtle." Gai said, "It will record our voices, speak, while you can" Gai squeezed the turtle, it's back lit up.

Neji let out a sigh. "I listened in as Hyuga Hanabi spoke to the blonde scientist, apparently the Hyuga household was in league with them, paying for the weapons, and helping out where they could, all of it done under the table and in secret." "I also heard her say that it was the main branch that hired the Chen clan to kidnap Hime, all of it, was them, they are the ones responsible."

Hiashi tricked me, and I have paid for it, Gai has paid for it, Hiashi has killed Ninegame, the summoning turtle, he has laid a killing blow upon me, I am dying, tell...tell Ten-ten, that I am sorry, and that I love her, both her and our child, I hope he or she grows up to be free, and they will not ever have to fear caged bars."

Neji let a few tears fall at this. "Thank-you everyone, especially you Naruto, for releasing me of my chains, I hope you follow through on your promise, save the second branch, free us from our cages." Gai let a few tears. "Kakashi, the boy speaks truth, I am sorry old friend, but I guess you won this round." Gai sighed as he sat on the ground, Neji in his arms.

Neji's eyes had faded, he was gone. A tear still slowly fell down his face. Gai placed the turtle on Neji's chest. "Neji was wrong, he always knew how to open the cage door and fly free, he did it everyday when he held his head proudly and did not give up on his nindo or himself." Then Gai slowly closed his eyes as he surrendered himself to the blackness, he needed to be there for his student, there in the mysterious afterlife.

* * *

Tsunade scanned the field, where the hell was that vile woman? Katsuyu turned "Do you wish me to heal those men over there?" Tsunade nodded and gave her some of her precious chakra. "Use it wisely, don't waste it on someone who doesn't need it." Katsuyu flicked on of her eye stalks in agreement. Tsunade turned, spotting something.

It was a man, a large item set before him. He was kneeling down, concentrating, his hands folded, he gazed intently to her. She glanced about, there was another, in the same position on the other side of them. Both men stood many yards away, they were small dots to her. She did not grasp what they were doing.

Then she saw the woman, with another man kneeling next to her, in the same position as the others. What was going on? Katsuyu let a tremor go through her, she was sensing something she did not like. "What is it?" she asked. "I am not sure, but I do not like what they have in those crates." Tsunade narrowed her eyes, she was right three crates sat in front of each man.

Then with an unknown sign, all three went through the same hand signs. A great wind-swept before them. Growing. The wind hit the boxes and picked up what was inside of them. A powder of some sort. The scent gave it away, as well as the stinging pain in her eyes. It was a great salt wind, Tsunade gasped, she only realized what this would do.

Katsuyu screamed, as the salt burned her. Creating pockets in her flesh as the acidity ate away. The men kept swirling the salt around her, trapping her in it. Katsuyu opened her mouth, salty air went inside of her, burning and eating away her insides as well. "Katsuyu!" Tsunade screamed. Katsuyu's body started to convulse as she separated herself into smaller clones of herself. Her great mass shifted and bulked.

Thousands of smaller slugs rained down from the mass they previous were. The smaller Katsuyu's managed to evade the salt for a moment. The ninja extended the wind. There was no place for her to escape to. Tsunade yelled "Get away! save yourself!" Thousands of soft voices writing in pain spoke "but...but my lady!" "GO!" Tsunade screamed.

Katsuyu, one of the greatest summoning on the earth, was defeated by such a simple and vicious jutsu, no one ever thought about what salt would do to her. Damn that scientist, she was smart in a vile unearthly way. Tsunade tumbled through the air, coughing and hacking as the salt air stung her orifices. The woman took her chance, the small sliver of an opening.

Tsunade was blinded and in pain from the salt, unable to breathe or react, her brain was overrun with the single thought of being 'burned.' Suki ran forward, a blade in hand. She reached the coughing Hokage. Without extravagant flair she plunged the blade into the over sized chest. The Hokage gasped, blood flowing from her pink lips.

Her hazel eyes gazed into hers. "You fought valiant, but your age has surpassed you, the age of the ninja is gone and dead, now it is science and real thinking, you and your kind will not last, and the demons will die out, for good." She stabbed the blade even deeper. "No...you are wrong, my age has only just caught up to me."

The womans youth faded from her. Suki was met with an old woman, her hair a pure white. Wrinkles forming on the once youthful face. Yet still, she maintained a beauty, a beauty that Suki could not describe. The Hokage gripped her shoulders. "But you are wrong, there will always be ninja, those who are willing to fight for what is truly right, and there will always be demons, they have lived here until today and they shall always remain, all has their place...except for you, you who use others for your own selfish needs and wants, the world, the world will not weep for you, and the next time the sun rises, it will rise only to cast light your dead flesh."

"The same will be for you." Suki said. Tsunade smiled "I have lived long in this world, I have seen and learned so many things, I know I have left a legacy that will last forever, I die knowing that I will return back to my Dan's arms, but you...when you die, you will only meet up with your lover in the tormenting burning fires of hell!" Tsunade grinned "I wish I could be there to watch you burn! But knowing I guess will be good enough!"

Suki screeched at the infuriating woman. She pulled the blade from her and stabbed her again and again. The slug princess fell, but still breathed, she spoke. "That demon, that demon will get you, he will consume you like he did your lover, and you know what? The pain that you have wrought would still not be paid back in full."

Then the Hokage gave a last shuttering sigh and died, the moon was the witness to her death. The stars her mourners. "Let's go" Suki said and turned. "Call for a retreat, we will rejoin with Shinjin and the others, we will bide our time and build our strength." They nodded and left.

* * *

"The cowards are calling for a retreat!" Imasen whinnied, pumping his legs in the air. "We have won!" Naruto froze. His mind was laced as many a soul bond was ripped from him. Neji, Gai, and Tsunade all at the same time. He howled and fell to the ground. Pain lacing. "What is it?" Sasuke said leaning down to him. "Tsunade, Neji...Gai...they have all...fallen."

Sasuke swallowed. "I see." Sasuke rose "We cannot let them kill so many then run." Sasuke yelled "AFTER THEM! LET NONE ESCAPE!" He roared. Imasen stared at Sasuke. "What are you?" Sasuke leaped upon Imasen. "Where is the war hungry stallion I know! Are you going to let them run and hide like dogs? Let them escape and reorganize themselves, and come back and harm you some more? No, we run them down now and finish them while we still can!"

Imasen reared agreeing, Sasuke held onto Imasen's mane. He kicked his heels into Imasen "Then run!" Imasen charged forward, Sasuke screaming for all to give pursuit. They did, demons, humans all of them ran after their retreating foe. Sasuke giving encouragement from Imasen's back. The two of them flew forward, a great warrior untop of his war steed. His sword flashing out and striking down the running enemies.

Together they were a beautiful and powerful sight. Glowing in the moonlight, man and horse joined together and created an unstoppable force, a force that would be talked about for the ages to come as the 'Charge of the Uchiha.' The Wolf demons ran ahead, using their speed to surround the enemy camp. Howls rang out fresh from the forest, striking the night with fresh fear.

Lumenion and men were surrounded, beaten and broken. They knew it. Some already had laid their weapons down and held their hands up. There was an uneasy silence. No one knew what to do. Naruto had pushed through his pain and came forward. "Those of you who wish not to die, step forward and kneel, hands behind backs, all weapons on the ground!"

He barked at them. With solemn faces, many men, except a few handfuls forward and kneeled. "Gather them" Naruto said. Many came forward still weary of deceit. They placed bindings on them and gathered them up, leading them off, defeated soldiers, having no honor, or pride, worse than slaves. The Lumenion had stood quiet, except for the growls and snapping.

Naruto searched for Rebel. From out of the lines she came forward, her and her pack. He was happy all of them alive and well, bloody and battered but proud. Naruto nodded as he scanned all that lay before them. They stood in the middle of the camp, grouped in a massive circle around the enemy, a small parting for the ones who had given up to be led through.

All seemed a daze, of how they got to this point, it mostly just pointless fighting, hacking and slashing at them, herding and killing them like lambs, until finally they just...stopped. Sasuke still sat astride Imasen, and Imasen seemed not to mind, he actually seemed to like Sasuke sitting upon him. All was Quiet as Rebel came forward, their was murmuring from the few last remnants of the followers.

"I am Rebel, I was a Lumenion who served with you a few weeks ago, but I left, I now serve under Konoha and fight beside demons." There was a lot of widening of eyes. "They can speak?" One said. "Yes, I and those behind me know your language, we have left behind our primal and animal base instincts, choosing to commit to knowledge and honor."

Rebel continued swinging her head to the Lumenion. "You were all created with a purpose, but that purpose is flawed, and so we are flawed, but that does not mean we have no place, we can make our own place in this world, no longer would we serve humans unless we wanted to, we are free to choose our own lives, no more hunger, no more orders, this is the life I am offering you."

Lumenion relaxed, looking to one another. A antlered one came forward, he spoke in snorts and grunts. "Why offer this, we have swore to fight for humans." "The oath that was sworn was by our ancestors" Rebel spoke. "We, are not them, we have choices, don't you see, we can choose not to listen, not to follow, we can choose to not be this, I am only telling you this, is is your lives, if you wish to die and be loyal to the promises of old fools than so be it, but if you wish to make a stake in this world, and fill that void in you, come with me."

The void, she spoke of the void, how right that saying fit, that was exactly so. The void, the chasm, the emptiness inside of them. That is what the all felt. It made them angry and hateful, yet one of their own, came to them and spoke with such a higher knowledge and power, who was this? That knew so much about them?

Their inner instincts called out to her, the feeling of 'leader' and 'safety' came to them. If they followed her, she would lead them to safety, by instinct alone did they step forward and follow, like dazed stalk they came to her. She nodded and turned. Naruto bowed his head, "Let them pass, a promise is a promise." Rebel led them, in front of her kin.

Her kin had changed even in that moment. No longer angry and bitter, instead their eyes were glazed with a child like innocence. "What are you doing! Your god made you for us! You follow us!" The woman screamed, there she was, in the middle of all this. Naruto growled fresh anger hitting him, he wanted to run forward and rip her throat open, watch her die, but he wanted to watch her many deaths, over an over, to reap the pain she had caused so many in equal measure.

Rebel paused. "The god may have created us, but the god does not command us, we command ourselves, no other, we all have witnessed what happens when one serves their god to faithfully, we wish to never be like so." Rebel turned away and kept on walking. Her kin followed.

* * *

Naruto stepped forward, "One last chance, give up if you wish to live!" They all stood resolute. Naruto sighed "Kill them all, but leave her alive." He said turning to all. With a roar many ninja and demon surged forward and killed the ninja, who put no fight, the accepted their deaths. Finally only Suki remained, she was unaffected, she stood, blood splotched on her face and clothes.

Her hair in dis-array, for the first time, all could see her, for who she was. She was not beautiful, she was an ugly person, her thin flared nostrils, her high sharp cheek bones, her pointy sharp chin, the edgy piercing eyes, like daggers. Her hair thin and cut short fell away from the tie. The night wind tossed the strands about.

"Suki, the scientist, more like a snake, with your dark twisted mind and poison." She smiled bowing, "Thank-you" Naruto growled "Only you would take that as a compliment." "The Hokage was right about you, you are different from all other demons, it was no wonder my lover fell to your jaws." "Don't worry you will join him soon enough."

Naruto said. "What is it that makes you so different I wonder?" She said. Naruto smirked, he had all attention, all was here. He spoke "because I was born a human, but live a demon, that is why, I am and always have been Uzumaki Naruto, son of Uzumaki Kushina and Namikaze Minato, I was a jinjuriki, housing the nine tailed fox, during the fourth war I died by my best friends blade and was reborn into this body, where in secret I returned back to the village I love and continue to serve her, only under a different guise."

There was a loud murmur through all around them. Suki stared at him. "Your science is wrong, it has no idea about the powers of the gods, or the powers of ones will and heart, it cannot understand how humans and demons have always been meant to be, it cannot comprehend how bonds work, that is why it is a selfish and shallow knowledge, and why those who study it, lose everything in the end."

"NO! You are wrong! You are just a demon! spreading more lies! Spreading more deceit! You have tricked them all! All of you will go to hell!" Naruto shook his head. "No, only you." Naruto backed away. "I will leave you to the will of those who you would wish dead, I have sworn to never act in revenge, so I am afraid if I kill you I would break my vow."

He turned, and crashing forward came demons, all of them wanting a piece of her flesh to rip. Her scream rose up into the night one time. The chorus of satisfied and jubilated demons echoed her. Finally when all was done, when her body had been ripped open and lay broken and yawning stretched open, her bones glistening in the moonlight.

No one knew of the words that Tsunade and her had passed, but they had came true. When the sun rose, after that long, and bitter night. The night that housed so much terror, so much, death and loss. The sun rose, its entrance hesitant and majestic. It's tendrils of light shone upon the pools of blood which reflected it back, blinding the sun itself. The sun's rays shone down on Suki's long dead flesh, her dark vile soul released from this earth and sent to another where hopefully she was punished for all her crimes, hopefully writhing in the fires of hell as Tsunade had put it.

The sun fell on many others that morning, Neji and Gai, who were still together even in the end. Gai holding and protecting his student, as all sensei's do. The sun fell upon the flesh of many others who has passed. Many demons, many humans, and many more Lumenion.

The Lumenion led by Rebel had disappeared. Gone like a cool wind in the middle of summer, a whisp of a presence then vanished and only a memory remained. They had forged out into the new world on their own, hoping to find a place for themselves, to stake a claim.

Naruto was sad, to not be able to say good-bye to Rebel, but she was their leader, she had to do what was best for her kind. Naruto spoke "I hope you find what you are looking for Rebel." He said to himself softly. He removed his helm and walked through the camp. People nodded their heads to him and regarded him with so much respect.

Naruto turned as Shikamaru came up to him, tears in his eyes. "I found Neji and Gai, he had this." Shikamaru handed him a summoning turtle, he was small and he huffed. He could not speak he was a simple messenger. "Take him to the Hokage, it was meant for Kakashi." Shikamaru nodded. There was some murmuring and arguing.

Naruto came forward. "What is all this?" Naruto asked. "It's a girl...and a child, we found them, hiding." A girl with mousey brown hair stood before him. Her head bowed, looking as if she was trying to make herself as small as possible. A sleeping child in her arms, he had to be three at least. "Who are you?" he asked the girl.

She shook her head. Naruto sighed "Take the child." The girl let the child go without a fight, when the child left her arms she flung herself at the nearest blade and grabbed it. "Stop!" Naruto yelled, but it was too late. She had slit her throat, dying before her blood even hit the ground. They stared at her body for a few moments, as the blood seeped from it.

Naruto sighed once more. "Take her away" He said to them. Deftly some ninja moved in and carried the corpse away. "Who's child is this?" he asked them, looking at it. Something clicked in Naruto's memory bank, he recognized that hair and those facial features, and those eyes, it was no mistaking them, they had belonged to Teiku.

The memory of the man, brought back many pains to Naruto. But he shook the thoughts from his head. This was a child, he was free of whatever curse his father had, but then the thought his Naruto, if this child was Teiku's son, that meant his mother had been Suki. Naruto glanced at the boy, he did have his mothers fair skin.

"Take the child to Konoha, see if you can get him to speak." They nodded and left. Naruto sighed and continued on with his duty. At mid-day they had found Tsunade's body. Naruto payed his respects solemnly to her. They lifted her body gently and carried it. Her long white hair flowing down the nape of her neck. The wrinkled yet enchanting face, harnessed the features of eternal beauty.

Naruto lifted his head and gave one elegiac howl. Marking her passing for all to hear. Sasuke joined him later, leaping down from Imasen's powerful back. "Hey" he said standing slightly hunched, his legs bowed.

"Hey" Naruto said back to him. "It's going to take a few days regardless of how much you do today Naruto, come one let's go rest, we all need it." Naruto nodded and put word in for everyone to finish up whatever duties they had then return back to Konoha for rest. Imasen snorted and stomped the ground. Sasuke turned to him and scratched Imasen's neck.

Imasen huffed in relief. "You seem to be enjoying yourself" Naruto said to Imasen. "I have, I do not know why I did not think of choosing a rider before, it can allow to many a great advantage! Sasuke is the only man in this world who is strong enough to ride the thunder of the hills!" Sasuke smiled and patted Imasen, "I am only thankful you did not throw me, I had no idea what I was thinking when I leaped on your back."

"You were thinking like a true warrior and lead stallion, ushering on the herd, making them push ahead despite what may be!" Imasen answered him, butting his head into Sasuke's shoulder, almost toppling him over. Naruto chuckled. He looked about. "I am just glad this bloody thing is done with." Sasuke nodded "But it's not over yet Naruto, not by a long shot."

Naruto sighed, he could only agree with his old friend.

* * *

**Holy crap. That took so much, but I hope you enjoyed it.**

***Author proceeds to fall to the ground and becomes comatose***


	93. Tribute To The Moon

**Life As A Fox**

**Chapter 92**

**NSW**

* * *

**Hey Guys, I'm back sorry about the wait, I was busy this weekend, and the days following, school has been really hammering away at me.**

**But heres the next chapter I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

Naruto entered the room. Kakashi was in the hospital bed, sitting up, with a table in front of him. At the moment he was going through paperwork, while listening to a man give a report. He looked up when he heard Naruto. "Ah, there you are." Kakashi said dismissing the man with a wave of his hand. "Sir, how are you feeling?"Naruto said remaining formal. "I am feeling all right Naruto, as I tell every other bloody person who asks." Kakashi sighed pushing the paper away

Naruto smirked and stepped forward. "What are your orders?" "Hnmm? Oh, first thing is first we need to get access to the damage done by this war, how many died, who is missing, things of that order." "What of the Hyuga?" Naruto said. After learning of Hiyashi's betrayal most of the main branch was seized upon and taken in for questioning. "Give me some time, we have larger things to worry about."

Naruto nodded. "Shall I return back to see how the clean up is going?" Kakashi nodded. "Right now I am figuring out where I can get more rock and timber for the re-building of the wall." "S-sir?" Naruto said taken aback. "You seem confused, did you think the wall was made of normal wood and stone?" Naruto nodded, wasn't that so? Kakashi chuckled. "No, Naruto the wall is more than that."

"The wall was built of a special stone, not found in this area easily, and I doubt we could find it again, the only way to find it is by use of special locator crystals." "Locator crystals?" Naruto asked. "Yes, the first Hokage had one, one that he passed down to his granddaughter, the late Tsunade, but she passed it down to another, long before her death." Naruto shivered knowing where this was going.

"My necklace" he said. "Yes, the reason it was known to be worth a mountain, is because it literally is, by use of that crystal, you can find mountains of the stone." "What is so great about this stone?" Naruto asked. "It is a diluted version of the crystal." Naruto tweaked an ear his version of raising an eye-brow. Kakashi let out a long breath, he swiveled his head and looked out the window.

Naruto waited in silence for him. Kakashi sat up and pushed the table away. "Come here" Kakashi said waving towards the nearby chair. Naruto padded over and jumped up into the chair. He curled his body and lay facing Kakashi. "Your crystal, helped control massive amounts of chakra, it channeled it and kept it flowing." Naruto nodded understanding. "You knew that at one time, Konoha had a great barrier seal, that the Anbu used, and that only those who knew the password could enter it."

Naruto nodded, that was true. "Well during the chunin exams that you took when you were a genin, the barrier was broken, and it never was put up again, which is a shame." Kakashi said sighing. "Yes, now what does this have to do with the rock?" "I was getting to that" Kakashi said sternly. Naruto laid his ears back in apology. "I wish to rebuild the wall and re-establish the seal, to do that I need the rock, it to held the same capabilities as the crystal, that is why we could do the seal in the first place."

Naruto mulled it over in his head. If what Kakashi said was true, that would mean that instead of having a person constantly feeding the seal, which would drain that person to do such a thing over a massive area. Instead with the stone, one would only have to feed the chakra into the wall each morning and night, the stone would distribute it naturally and sustain the seal itself.

It was a phenomenal idea, Naruto had to admit it would not have been something he would think of, the first Hokage was truly a genius for thinking of such things. "So, you wish to find this stone correct?" Naruto asked. Kakashi nodded. "Yes, and since you so boldly announced to all of Konoha who you really are, I will need your permission." "Permission for what?" Naruto asked.

"To dig up your grave." He said simply. Naruto studied his face, Kakashi was serious. Naruto was silent for a few moments. "Well...how can I say no to you when you look at me like that?" Kakashi gave him a death glare and fumbled around for some papers. Finally he found what he was looking for. "Here" he said handing Naruto some papers. Naruto looked down at them.

It was an official request form, asking for permission. "I...Kakashi, you don't have to do this, If you wanted it just ask, you can go ahead." "That maybe, but like I said, everyone knows who you are now." Naruto sighed Kakashi was right. Ever since he announced to all who he really was, a lot had changed. Many got out of his way, those who used to treat him with so much closeness and friendship now gave him respect, but seemed to only come from fear.

It was as if they were afraid of him. Then again who could blame them, he was a human who managed to get a goddess of demons to give him new life. Well in reality he did no such thing, Karuma helped him, and Megumi herself said she chose him for this. He sighed, maybe after a while things would settle down. Maybe then people would relax around him.

Naruto glanced down, "Do you have an inkwell?" Kakashi nodded and placed one next to him. "Thanks" He said and dipped the tip of his tail in it and wrote out his name. "Um...Naruto, I need your real name...not Fluffy..." Naruto glanced down, he didn't even realize. "Oh...sorry about that." Kakashi grumbled as he got a new set of papers. Naruto signed his real name, it was so weird to write it again, it was as if he had found something that he hadn't seen in forever, it resurrected old memories.

He chuckled, then he nodded to Kakashi, "I shall go and see about the clean-up." Kakashi nodded. "Also, the child, of Ainu, where is it?" Kakashi asked. "Where do you think it is? What happens to all the strays I being home? Hinata has taken him in." Naruto said sighing. Kakashi shook his head smiling. "Of course she has." Naruto finished up his name then bowed his head and left.

* * *

He walked the streets going back down to the fighting zone. Civilians, ninja, and demons alike were helping tear down the temporary structures and tents. Others were re-organizing the wall bits. Large pieces in one giant pile, smaller ones in carts and transferred to other piles. Naruto over saw all operations. He scented a familiar scent on the breeze.

He turned, it was Kiba and faithfully limping beside him Akamaru. Naruto greeted Akamaru, who licked him fervently. Naruto looked to Kiba. "He fares well?" Kiba nodded. "Oh yeah, my boy can pull through anything, right Akamaru?" Akamaru gave a bark in reply. Naruto rolled his eyes. "So whats going to happen now?" "First we have to tear everything down, clean everything up, make note of our supplies and persons, then we must begin the reconstruction."

"R-reconstruction?" Naruto nodded. "Kakashi is going to dig up my grave, take my necklace and use it to locate the special rock that made the wall in the first place." Kiba stared at him. "Are you serious?" He asked. Naruto remained silent as he looked about, then he nodded. Kiba wiped sweat from his brow. It was hot in the midday sun. It beat down on all of them.

Already certain groups began to retreat into shade to rest and receive some mercy from it. Naruto panted and turned to him. "Kiba, you should go home and rest, there is nothing more to do here, only those in the special teams and groups are needed, go be with your family." Kiba nodded "Of course, but shouldn't you be there as well?" "With Kakashi's absence and my promotion, I now must stand in, I must oversee this, I must stay here and deliver orders, commands and report what I must, that is my duty charged."

Kiba nodded "I see, well good luck." Naruto nodded. He turned back and walked along the area. Mestat came lumbering up. "Naruto." she said. "Yes, Mestat." "I have something to ask." Naruto nodded "Go ahead." "When I came to fight, I came with the hopes that afterwards, someone would help me with a small favor." Naruto nodded. "I see, go ahead."

"We elephants, we have memories and stirrings of those before us, within us." Naruto waited for her explanation. She curled her trunk delicately as she spoke. "We learn from those in the past, our instinct and theirs guide us, mine has told me, that I must return home, back to where I belong, and I ask for help to go there." Naruto glanced up at her.

At the moment her request was odd, and came at the wrong time, he had many things he had to do! All though she was his kin, he did not have the time to honor such requests. "I know, you are busy" she continued suddenly. Her great eyes gouging into his. The softness in them made him feel as if he was being cradled by her massive trunk. "I am not asking for assistance now, I am asking for it when you have time."

"Why me?" he asked. "Why not others?" "Because others have never lost their families, others do not understand what it is like to be lost, you do." "You have found a family now, but there was a time, when you were like me, I ask you, to think back on those times, remember the anguish and pain you had, show me your sympathy and lend me your strength and guidance, from one lost soul to another."

She extended her trunk out, as if a hand, pleading. He closed his eyes. "Of, course, I will help you, I can't say it will be today or tommorow, but I will return you to your home, that is a promise." She nodded her massive head "Thank-you Naruto" She said softly, then her great mass turned, gracefully away from him. She walked away her limbs moving slowly but with great care.

He sighed too much was going on. He padded towards Fenrir, his 'brother-in-law' He and Mestat had survived the war and were pleasantly lying next to each other. The son and mother duo turned to Naruto. Fenrir stood up and bowed to him. The humans may have held Naruto with fear, but demons on the other hand held him with even more regard and respect, he was a demon crafted from the goddess own hands.

"Fenrir, how fares you?" Fenrir smirked. "We are good Naruto, but there is something that we must ask." Naruto internally groaned, would everyone ask for a request? "Yes?" he asked. "We wish to stay." Naruto paused. What did he mean? "Stay?" Naruto asked. "Stay, some of us wish to stay in this village, in this world, we want to be apart of it, not holed up and hidden away like we were."

Naruto was silent for a bit, the request was odd, he didn't think they would want to. "The same could be said for us." Naruto turned his head. It was Dither. His men stood behind him, massive arms folded over equally massive chests, and eyes drilling down into Naruto's with resolve. "You want to stay...in Konoha?" They nodded. "But what of your homes?"

"We have bled, fought and some have died for this place, I assume that is close enough to a home as one could get." Naruto smirked Dither had a way with words. "But what of your mates? Families?" "Well we aren't going to leave them behind, we will send someone to get them, but we wish to live here." "You are adamant?" Naruto asked. "Yes" Fenrir and Dither said together.

"Okay, I see...look please just give me some time, I have so much...just some time okay?" They nodded, respecting his wishes. Naruto looked to Mestat. "I thought you were the wolves of jagged valley?" he asked her. "We are, in ways, we are, some of us will return back to our homes, those who do not wish to live with the humans, there will always be demons who go by the old ways, but the others...like me and Fenrir will stay, I do not want to abandon my daughter a second time."

Naruto nodded. "I understand, speaking of, I must go and check in on my mate." He bowed to Mestat and Fenrir then left. Heading towards home.

* * *

It was surreal to walk into the house, it was so strange, he had been so used to living and sleeping next to the wall, with all the other ninja and demons in the war. But now the war was over, it was done. The War of the demons, that was what is was called. The first, and most likely the last. The smells of Hinata cooking made his mouth water, it had been so long since he had a home cooked meal.

He heard the sound of scuffling over the wooden floors, voices called out. "Papa papa!" But they were not in demon, it was human. He was stunned as his pups ran around the corner and came crashing into him. They almost knocked him over, how big they had gotten! Their ears brushed against his belly! They danced about him, rubbing and nipping at him.

He lowered his head and licked and nuzzled each one, taking in their scents. Minato smelled like the forest, a mix of tree and leaves, swirling about in one so small. Gin smelled like wind flowing through a field of flowers. Soft and sparse, not overpowering. Mashi, Mashi smelled like a winter tundra. Fresh and Pristine. He inhaled their scents and engraved them to mind, he wanted to always remember their precious scents.

He parted from them. "You can speak human now?" "Ah huh!" Gin exclaimed. "We surprised Kiba good when he got home!" "Oh you did, that's good, now you can explain to him when you chew his shoes." Naruto said to Minato, who laid his ears back in embarrassment. "Dad! we don't do that anymore, we are big pups!" "I can see that, you have grown so much."

"Is mama right? Is the war really done?" Naruto nodded. "Why was there a war anyway?" Mashi asked. "It's a long story, I will tell you all later." "Mama said you are a general! How did you become a general papa?" Gin asked, curious as ever. Naruto sighed. "Another story for another time, now come, your father has spent a long day, and would like to relax, maybe I will tell you a story after supper."

"Naruto! Good you are home, I was worried you wouldn't be able to make it." "When I am not at war, I have rules of how long I work, I need sometime with my beautiful mate" he said licking Yume's cheek. "And my rambunctious pups who have grown so much." "What does rambunctious mean?" Gin asked. "They also ask so many questions." Naruto said nipping her playfully on the neck.

She squealed and hopped up on her back paws. Nipping and lunging at his ears. He chuckled. Kiba spoke, "They have grown, I didn't think they would be speaking with us so soon." "I told them they would have to fend for themselves now when they chew your shoes." Kiba chuckled. Mashi spoke up "We won't chew your shoes, Kiba we are sorry." "It's okay, your forgiven, besides you were only pups then."

"See dad, Kiba says we aren't pups!" Minato exclaimed. Naruto captured Minato with his paw, he took the other and fussed up the fur on Minato's head. Minato howled and tried nipping at him. "You will always be pups to me." "Not for long, one day I will be just as big as you!" Mashi said leaping forward and bristling up his fur, puffing out his chest. "Oh you will now?"

Naruto asked him. Mashi nodded. "Yep one day, I will be bigger, stronger and faster! I will be the greatest wolf demon there ever was!" "How big will your pack be?" Minato asked. "I won't need one! I will be Mashi the great white wolf!" "Well until that day" Naruto said interuppting him. "You will be Mashi, son of 'The white demon' of Konoha, and as my son, I think it is high time you sit still and eat your supper."

Mashi deflated. He scurried over to his bowl and waited for Hinata to place their supper in their bowls. Diced up venison and beef, with a basil sauce. The pups ate their food quickly. Naruto sat next to Yume and watched them. Both of them proud of the three pups they brought into this world. Naruto turned, the boy, who Hinata named Kibou ate his supper silently.

Naruto spoke to Hinata, "How is he?" Hinata brushed his hair. "He has not said a word, he comes when I say his name, and he listens to me, but not a word does he say, he only points or walks over to what he wants or needs." "I see" Naruto said glancing at the child. Hime was sitting on the ground, feeding Akamaru treats. "Sit" she said, going through basic commands.

Akamaru did so. "Good boy" she said, her voice still not as yet used to speaking. But she was learning fast, how they grew up! "Tomi has actually spoken to me about him." "Tomi?" Naruto asked, it has been awhile since he seen the adopted son of theirs. "Yes, seeing as he and Kibou are related, second cousins in all, he was thinking of actually adopting him, it would help the child out, when he is older and his blood trait comes through, in a way, they are the last of their clan."

Naruto nodded, "I see, but I guess everything is really confusing and hard to get straight, once all the paperwork and the clean up of the wall is done, I believe a lot of things can finally be straightened out." Naruto said. "I hope so" Hinata said absently stroking Kiba's hair. He leaned his head back and looked up to her as she stood behind him. They shared a small smile.

"How is Ten-ten?" He asked. Sadness flickered across Hinata's face. Neji the loss of Neji was a strong blow to her, he was like a brother. She turned hiding the tears. "I stop in to see her everyday, Sakura, me and Lee we always stop in, give her strength, she is so delicate in her condition. We try and console her the best we can, we don't want her to lose the baby so that is why we try and relieve as much stress as possible."

Naruto nodded. To Ten-ten it was a double blow, both Neji, her husband and father of their unborn child, and their sensei, both gone in one night. "Having someone nearby is the best thing, but I know her, she can get through this, she will live for that baby, I know it." Hinata nodded. "I thought the same thing, I believe she is already, if it is a boy, she will name it Neji, she has told me that."

Naruto nodded. "Good" Then he let out a long sigh as he closed his eyes and just rested for once. Yume spoke. "What is the matter my love?" "Oh, it's just...stress, so much needs to be done, and it feels like more it getting shoved on, me and Kakashi both are being buried under paperwork and duties that need to be done, a brick can't be moved or placed without one of us signing off on it."

"Even the greatest leaders are no match for paperwork." Naruto smiled at Hinata as he opened his eyes. "You would be correct, not to mention I am still being trained in my official duties...the Anbu General, not something I would have imagined being so soon." "To think you were gone so often just being a captain, now as General...I will never see you my love."

He smiled and looked to her. "Oh you will, as General I have to stay in the village and oversee the Anbu core, no more missions for me, it's all paperwork from here on." Yume licked his brow. "I have faith in you." "I know you do." He said to her butting his head into her shoulder. She chuckled. "Eeeewwwww" Mashi,Minato, and Gin all said. Naruto turned to them and chuckled.

"Come, let us go for a walk." he said to them. They scampered over to him, jumping and yipping. They followed him out of the house. Naruto looked about and sighed, the sun was setting, and the village was at peace. He looked ahead to his pups who ran before him, laughing and playing as they chased each other about. Contently he nodded, the future of Konoha was in good hands...and paws.

He watched over the pups and kept them well within his sights as he made his way to a place he had not been in a long time. On top of the mountain that over looked Konoha, and had the faces of the wise leaders of the pass forever etched in its face. Naruto with his pups stared over the great village that laid before him. "Papa what are we doing here?" Minato asked.

"We are enjoying the sight." "What sight?" asked Mashi as he peered over the edge then backed away swiftly. His fur fluffed out. Naruto wrapped a paw around all three of them and pulled them closer to him. "The sight of our home." "It's big" Gin said. "It is" Naruto said nodding. "How many people live here?" "Thousands" Naruto said answering Minato's question.

"You know them all?" "No" Naruto said. "How many others are like us?" Mashi asked. Naruto hesitated. "Well...at the moment many of our kind, but some of them may return back to where they come from." "You mean this isn't their home?" Asked Gin. Naruto nodded "Correct, they have another place that they came from." "So why did they come here and fight?"

He looked down to their curious faces. These questions were hard to answer, he didn't know how to put it in words that they would understand. "It is because it was the right thing to do, they came to help out fellow demons, and to fight for an idea, a doctrine and a hope that will spread outward to all nations and all places." "What is that?" Mashi asked.

Naruto looked up. "That no matter where we go, we demons will be treated with kindness and are free to live and run and be who we are." There was a silence, the wind ruffled through Naruto's fur. Warm and calm it gave him peace. "Are we not treated that way already?" "Yeah papa, everyone is nice to us." Naruto gave them a soft smile. "Yes, you are right, but that is only because I worked so hard to change peoples way of thinking, I did it so that I could bring my family into a place where they would be safe from harm."

He sighed. "I don't expect you to understand everything at this moment, but there is something you need to know." They turned to him. "Everyone, has a light and a dark in them, some people act out more on one side more than the other. People can do bad things, and so can demons, both of us can, but there is something you will always need to remember."

He spoke. "No matter what, never give up, always fight for what you think is right, right for you and for others, because not everyone can be lucky like us, and stand up and fight for themselves." He paused. "You need to remember to always trust and confide in your friends and allies, you need to remember them, for those who forsake them are lower than scum."

"You need to always trust in yourself, and to keep going, no matter what pain there is...and never...never forget yourself, or lose your inner fire." "Papa...why are you crying?" Gin asked. Naruto looked at her and smiled sweetly. "It's just, the last time I gave this speech, it was to three young humans, who were also my pups...in a way." "You had human pups?"

Mashi asked. Naruto shook his head. "No, they weren't actually mine, but, I took them in and raised them, trained them, brought them up to this very spot and gave them the same speech that I just gave you." "What happened?" Gin asked. Naruto shook his head. She was too young all of them were, they were still innocent, they did not need to know of loss and death so soon.

"It is a story for another time." Mashi sighed. "I think that is going to be your excuse for everything" Naruto smirked. "Better than saying I got lost on the road of life, for every time I am late." The three of them cocked their heads. He smirked. "Come, let us go home." "Wait! can't we stay? Please? I want to see the stars from here!" Naruto sighed and consented, he lay down and the pups climbed over and around him as they wrestled with each other until the stars came out.

They watched them in silence. Naruto quirked his ears as he heard a soft padding and a familiar scent that would always make him utterly happy every moment he scented it. Yume walked through the underbrush. The moonlight made her fur glow, she stood in all her beauty before him. He couldn't help but forget to breathe for a few seconds. He had to be the luckiest demon on the earth it seemed.

"I thought you would be here" her melodious voice chimed in. He nodded as he looked to the pups who scampered over to her and butted her chest and legs, rubbing their scents upon her and caressing her warmth. He stood and went over to her. Licking her muzzle affectionately. He turned and led her to a soft patch of grass, they sat next to each other, bodies just brushing each other and tail curling near to each others.

"The stars are so beautiful up here, it is crisp and clean, it was like when it was just the two of us in the wild." He nodded "Sometimes I miss the simplicity of that life." "I know, but the pups would not have had the opportunities that they are able to have, if we had stayed out there." She leaned her head against his shoulder. "I know, neither would have you."

He looked to her. "We will make this work, I promise you since day one, that I will always be there when you need me, and you know me..."I never go back on my promise" They both said. He chuckled and nipped at her while she blushed and nipped back. A howl broke their play, it was Mashi, his little voice rising up over the vast city. Naruto smiled, he put his head back and howled as well for the sheer joy of it.

Yume chimed in her yipping voice adding a mix to the harmony. Gin and Minato joined, then with a sudden rapture, all other wolves in Konoha answered them. The night was filled with their eerie, yet exuberant cries, as they paid their tribute to the stars, which was instinct to their kind.

When all were done and the last howls faded away to only echos and shadows of echos, Naruto sighed. "I have so much work to so tomorrow." Yume chuckled, "Don't we all?" Naruto sighed and rested his head against hers. He didn't know how he would make it without this wolf.

* * *

**Well, that took awhile, I am so sorry about the wait once more, and no this is not the end. More will be coming soon.**

**NSW**


	94. Glowing

**Life As A Fox**

**Chapter 93**

**NSW**

* * *

Silence, the silence was deafening in Konoha, the only noise was the slight creaking of a casket as it was marched past the gathered crowd. All in Konoha lined the streets to pay tribute to the 'death parade.' So many had fallen, it seemed as though it was never ending. Naruto thought for a moment, where they would get the people to replace all they lost, surely this had to have crumbled their strength? But no as he looked around he saw so many young children with fires of will burning strongly in their eyes, and he knew, he knew, that Konoha was not lost, that more numbers would stand to come to her aide.

Naruto looked on, his sense were dulled, he did not know what to feel, he felt loss, but had experienced loss enough to know how to deal, so now he felt as though he were trapped in quicksand. The more he fought it, it seemed, the more it sucked him in. He shook his head and looked down at his pups. They sat still, their heads bowed as well, they did not know really what was going on, but they felt and saw the pain in everyone's eyes, so they knew something of a great sadness was happening, and that they to should be sad as well.

Yume comforted him some, by leaning her body against his. He turned his head. She placed her own beneath his jaw. They cradled each other's heads as they watched the procession continue. Then at last, the last casket came into view. Being pulled by four great black horses, wearing black leather harnesses they marched, their knees popping up, lifting their massive feathered hooves in graceful and regal steps.

Their necks were arched all at the same angle, they stepped and even breathed in sync. Naruto had to wonder what training went in, to get horses like these. They were beautiful, and commanding, a nobility and poise to their very stature. Naruto watched them go by, their harnesses chiming and their nostrils flaring. They pulled a casket made of stone, a marble it looked like, carved with the utmost precision.

On the side was the Konoha symbol and ancient text made of Kanji few recognized, even Naruto had trouble discerning the meaning. _'Hidden by the leaves, the great fire burns' _That was what was engraved on the side of the casket. Then one by one the crowd joined in with the precision, following it out to the burial grounds of Konoha. At this time many split into smaller groups, going to their families and loved ones, following them to their final resting place in the cold earth.

It was surreal, it was such a bright and sunny day. So sunny in fact that woman dressed in their elegant black gowns sweated and swatted at flies as they fanned themselves with paper fans. Those who wore hats, or had a servant hold a shade for them were lucky. Naruto and his family had to survive by panting. There were times he longed to have sweat glands once more.

Naruto followed the main casket, as it was lead to a more private part of the graveyard. He sat an watched as they positioned the 5th Hokage over the black hold in the earth, freshly dug. For a moment, she hung suspended in mid-air, as if waiting for something. More people came and situated themselves. Sakura and Lee stood off to the side. Sakura wore a long black dress, that cascaded down to her claves, the straps were wide and rested on her shoulders, crossing over her bosom. A simple necklace, pink quartz attached to a silver chain hung around her neck.

Her hands were folded softly in front of her, she stared out sad but she did not cry. Lee laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. She lifted on hand up and rested it on his. She squeezed his fingers and looked to him once then back to the grave. Naruto padded over to her. He sat down then leaned against her leg, something she always found annoying, but at the moment, she found it comforting, for she smiled softly and laid a hand on his head, scratching his ears.

Yume stayed with the pups, she knew at the moment Naruto needed to be alone with Sakura. Naruto turned his head, Ino and Sai arrived, followed by Hinata, Kiba, Hime and Kibou. Hinata wore a black dress similar to Sakura's only Hinata added a belt around her middle, she also had a black wide hat to protect her delicate skin from the sun. Her hair brought up in an intricate bun and she wore her expensive Lily of the Valley perfume, something she only wore on special occasions.

Around her neck was clasped the silver necklace Kiba had given her for their first anniversary. Naruto nodded to her, she nodded back. Kiba wore simple black clothes and held onto Hime's hand, Kibou stood next to Kiba's leg clutching at the fabric, but his eyes stared ever forward. When more had gathered, nobles in expensive gowns and extravagant jewelry, ushering forth children wearing mini versions of the luxurious silks and patterns.

They snapped fingers and commanded to their servants for water, shade, and at times even a nibble of a fruit or small tidbit that they brought with them. All of them sweated and stood red faced as they panted and huffed in the sun. One finally commanded, "We are all here, let us bury her and be done, many of us have long journeys to get back home. The man who was running the ceremony spoke, "We are waiting for one more."

"Who?" "The current Hokage, which would be me." Kakashi said coming forward, leading Anko, and his kids, Anki, and Sakumo. He did not wear his Hokage gown, instead he wore his usual jounin gear, only it was more pristine and elegant than the usual wear and tear one. Anko chose to wear a simple satin gray dress, an amber colored belt clasped on her waist.

The noble who had spoken flushed and remained quiet for the time there after. Naruto turned his head back to the man who stood before them. "The village of Konoha has seen many great and tragic things, she has been led by those who are known as the best of the best, in both strength, honor, integrity and will."

Kakashi nodded. "Before us today, we mark the passing of one more great and noble person, Tsunade was the granddaughter of Hashirama Senju, the first Hokage, and Grandniece of the second Hokage, she was trained and instructed under the wise guidance of the Third Hokage and was known through the land as the 'slug princess' Tsunade was a truly gifted and strong leader of Konoha, and will be greatly missed, her wisdom and her will, will be kept alive in our hearts."

At that moment, Sakura sobbed, the emotion she tried so hard to keep back spilled out. Naruto whined and nudged her. She got her sobs under control and waved him off. Instead she leaned in on Lee's shoulder. He held her tightly and closed his eyes as he held her. A gong rang out, dull a muffled followed by the sound and clattering of a great many bells.

They were the bells of death, ringing out, when someones burial was about to get underway. All around Konoha the elegiac bells rang. Filling the village with their mysterious and other worldly sound, death rang out true and strong for a few moments, then even death itself, died down. Slowly Tsunade was lowered down into her place. Some priest's muttered an intelligible and ancient mantra as one scattered dirt from a ceremony bowl.

Their dull voices spoke in synch, seeming as though they were one, it was chilling and made Naruto's fur stand on edge. The mantra continued for a long while. Till at last her casket rested. Slowly dirt was poured in from large stone containers. One by one, people passed by and paid their respects, lighting a stick of incense, or placing a private prayer upon the prayer tree for her.

Naruto paid his own tribute, he stood before her grave, then he threw his head back and howled, no other joined him because all knew from the sound of his voice, that this tribute to her was his and his alone, mournful and sorrowful he said good-bye to the one who believed in him, the one who sacrificed her all to protect him and to keep his dream alive.

How it pained her to trust in one more person, after all the loss she had suffered she still placed her bets on him. He had a promise to her, a promise that he still did not fulfill, but one day, one day, he would fulfill her dream, prove that faith in him was not wasted. She was the 5th Hokage, she was one of the only relatives of his own clan left, she was many great things, she was also many not so great things, but all and all she was herself, she was what Konoha and himself needed all along.

She served the village exactly how her grandfather and grand-uncle had wanted, dying so that the future children could inherit the will and pass it onto the next generation. After he was done, he bowed his head to her, then he spoke softly. "Rest well...Baa-chan" he said, the words falling off his lips softly.

But paying respect for the dead was not over for him. He continued on, going to the next funeral he had in mind. Iruka's, Sasuke was already there, he stood with his family. Naruto walked over to them. Sasuke gazed down to him, his eyes showed the faint evidence that he had been crying. Naruto sat down, his ears cocked back. Sasuke absently brought his hand down to Naruto's head, ruffling the fur, it comforted them both.

"Just because he died following his motto, just because he died doing that which he loved, doesn't mean it doesn't hurt less." Sasuke said softly. Naruto nodded it was too true. "I heard your howl, who was that for?" "Tsunade, but I guess you could say it was for everyone, when a wolf grieves, he grieves for all." Sasuke patted his head. "There is so many funerals to go to today, somehow I feel I might miss an important one."

Sasuke's first wife spoke. "It's impossible to go to all of them, but just because you did not attend the funeral does not mean you did not care for the person." Sasuke nodded she was right. "I suppose it's time." He said to Naruto, Naruto nodded, it was. Leaving Iruka's grave they set out to their destination in mind.

Pregnant Ten-ten stood dressed in not black but white dress, a long pure one, made of soft cloth, it flowed down to her ankles her hair, which she grew out longer was tied back in a simple bun. Shikamaru was there with her along with other members of the Hyuga second branch.

Lee and Sakura followed behind Naruto and Sasuke. Lee went over to his old teammate and put a hand on her shoulder. She turned, her eyes red from crying, but their was a strength residing in them. She placed a hand on her bulging abdomen.

She looked up and turned her head to where Hinata stood, Hinata left Kiba and walked over to her. Neither Kunochi said a word. They only gazed into each others eyes silently for a few moments. Then Ten-ten and Hinata collapsed unto one another, holding and crying softly, both had loved Neji so dearly, to Hinata he was a brother more than a cousin, and to Ten-ten he was a husband, and best friend.

Naruto remained silent, but on the inside he was seething. He knew it was the main clans fault, by they had covered their tracks well, no evidence of messages or meetings between the enemy and them could be linked, all they had was a confession by Neji that was recorded by a simple summoning.

But Naruto knew he had to avenge Neji's death, Naruto believed him, he would not fail him, he had to do this for Neji, for all who had died in the war, they could not get away, they could not escape their sins. Naruto turned and stalked away he had work to do.

* * *

Dead ends, more and more dead ends, for two weeks he had followed every lead, no matter how small or bare he had followed them. But it was no use, he could not interrogate the enemy, they were dead. And one could not even touch a main branch member anymore, after the council had released them do to the lack of evidence that Kakashi had on them.

One witness was not enough to condemn a whole clan, especially one of such high-caliber. Naruto groaned and dug his dead into his desk not caring how stupid it probably looked. "Sir...I don't think that is helping" Mouse stated.

Naruto lifted his head to where Mouse sat in the corner organizing files. "Nothing does, it's impossible, you can't interrogate the clan members and all the paper trails were burned long ago, they covered their tracks like ghosts." "Ghosts...don't leave tracks" "Exactly" Naruto stated and slammed his head back into the desk.

"Instead of trying to peel away the layers, why not get right to the source? Just dive right into the center, have you tried going through memories? Our interrogation squad has a few Yamanaka's, try using their blood trait." "It has crossed my mind" Naruto said lifting his head with a grunt.

"But one, we would need people, and all the bad guys are dead, and like I said the Hyuga are untouchable." "You don't need a bad guy, you need someone who everyone has overlooked even you." Naruto peered at Mouse. "What do you mean?"

"Did you not take in a child who was in the camp the entire time, who is the son of the main plot maker of the war? Did that not cross your mind? The child she would have kept close, and being as he is young, they did not think of all the stuff his mind absorbed."

Naruto was leaping onto his feet. "THATS IT!" He howled and jumped down from his desk in his excitement he ran around the office. He then jumped up unto Mouse and knocked him to the ground. Paws on his shoulders he licked Mouses masked face several times before he realized what he was doing and lept back.

Mouse sat up, wipping his mask. Naruto laid his ears back. "I...I'm sorry...I just sometimes, when I get excited I...act like...well...I..I'm sorry." He bowed his head looking up at Mouse. Mouse grumbled as he got back up. "Every General has his quirks, I guess this is one of yours, I will try and adjust, along with all the hair.."

Naruto whined, "I can't help it! I shed, it's just what I do! If I could control it I would!" Mouse sighed. "You were going to go do something?" Naruto paused. "Oh...right...to Tomi!" Naruto dashed away towards the door. "Wait...don't I have to fill out forms or something to use the interrogation squad?"

Mouse held them up."Yes, just sign the bottom I will do the rest, also you might want to send a message out to gather them? They don't just hang around here, they have lives." "Right" Naruto said. He stuck his head out the door way, looking both ways for a person.

He spotted Horse. "Horse!" he yelled out. Horse paused and saluted him. Naruto ran down the hall. "I need you to gather the interrogation squad! ASAP!" "Sir, Yes Sir!" Horse yelled out and was off. Naruto turned and ran back to his office.

"Taken care of!" Naruto yelled into his office then ran off to get Tomi and Kibou. Tomi had taken in his cousin, to take care of. Since he was the only family the child had. Naruto ran through the streets his feet hitting the ground in soft thuds as he bounded towards the place that Tomi lived. A small apartment on the other side of town.

Naruto ran up the metal steps to his apartment on the second floor, if he remembered correctly he lived at the end of the hall. Naruto stopped and knocked by hitting his tail several times against the door. He stood on the balcony and waited. Tomi answered the door. He was now a young man, full-grown. He stood tall and strong.

His body muscular and lithe. His unkempt brown hair shaggy in his face. A 5 o'clock shadow forming on his jaw. "Na...Naruto? What are you doing here? Get in here ya old flea bag, its been awhile since I saw ya last!" Naruto entered as Tomi gruffly hugged him. Naruto cleared his throat as he parted. "I am sorry, I am not exactly here on a social visit, I need to borrow Kibou."

Tomi paused. "Oh...why?" "I need..." Naruto stopped he didn't know exactly how to tell Tomi. "Why don't we sit down?" Naruto asked. Tomi nodded and motioned to the living room. "Tea?" he asked. "No...I don't understand why everyone thinks when company is over they want tea, give me water, milk, sake even, no more of that herbal shit, tastes like dirt to me, comforting my furry ass, that stuff is nasty."

Tomi chuckled. "Couldn't agree more, Hinata always made this dreadful stuff, I would dump into that one plant every time she gave it to me, who really enjoys that crap? I think they all pretend." "I know right?" Naruto exclaimed. The two of them laughed for a few moments, before Naruto quirked his ears at the sound of feet.

He turned to see Kibou. The child was dressed in brand new clothes and was eating from a bowl some sort of snack cereal or cookie of some sort. He stared vacantly at both of them. "I didn't want to alarm you at all Tomi, but the fact of the matter is, we would like to borrow Kibou for a bit." Tomi cocked his head. "What?" he asked obviously confused.

"We would like to sift through his memories that is all, no harm will we do to him, you know how skilled the Yamanaka are-" Tomi stood up and went to Kibou, placing a hand on the boy's head ruffling his hair. "I know what you are asking, and I understand why you would need him, but he is a child, who knows what affects of purging his memories might have on him? He is just beginning to adjust to this life, he's just beginning to relax and be a normal child, if you do that, would he ever possibly awaken from whatever realm he is in?"

Naruto nodded, that was the same fear he had, but he needed to take that risk. "I know Tomi, but if we do not do this, many innocent lives would have died for nothing, to save their memory and to put to ease the suffering of their loved ones...it is for the name of justice." Tomi sighed and turned to him. "I know, Naruto, I know...but how many wars have been fought, how many lives have been taken for that same thing? Think about it, the prophet thought he was-"

Tomi was cut off, at the mention of the name 'prophet' Kibou threw his snack on the ground scattering it all over the hard wood floor. His little hand clamped over his ears, and he began to let out these harrowing, pitiful sounds. Tomi was kneeling and trying to soothe him, but to no avail, the child jerked from his grasp and cried out louder.

Then for the first time for both, they heard him speak. In a high-pitched wail, he screamed. "Mama!Mama!" Naruto and Tomi made eye contact. Kibou ran to a nearby corner and pressed his little body into it, jamming himself and curling up into a pretzeled little ball. Naruto padded forward to the weeping and distressed child.

He scrunched down, to where he was almost dragging his body across the floor as walked to the child. The child looked up and seeing him started to actually calm. He was transfixed so it seemed by his eyes. Naruto got near to him. "It's okay Kibou, it's okay, I know, I know you miss your mother, but she is gone now...to a better place, she can't come back...but we are here for you...we will always be there for you, can you trust us?"

The child did not make a sound, instead he stared into Naruto's eyes. He stared for what seemed a long while. Silence passed during that time, neither made a sound. Then Kibou rushed Naruto and hugged him, clinging unto him and gripping him so hard. Naruto could not move for a while. "Tomi both of us are in a rock and a hard place, and I understand what you mean, but you must think about the greater good, do you want Neji's death to be in vain? To see Ten-ten raise a child of the man she loved and not know if he died for the right cause?" Naruto looked to Tomi.

"In the name of justice, many people have used that as a cover for doing terrible things, but what I am doing is not a terrible thing, I am only revealing the truth, I seek to reveal the true justice that lies underneath, nothing more." Tomi with a great sigh nodded. "I understand, this is something that needs to be done, very well...I guess, maybe by doing this, it might help him, we might be able to understand what is wrong with him and try and help him."

Naruto nodded. "Exactly so, come now, I shall have the child home by tomorrow, don't you fret mother hen." Tomi rolled his eyes but smiled and nodded to him. Naruto looked back to Kibou. "Kibou, why don't you come with me? I'll show you where I work hnmmm? Wouldn't that be fun? I also think there will be plenty of sweets in it for you."

With that the child's eyes light up. That was how he had always been bought, the thought of sweets, oh how his childish mind loved those things. Cookies, candies, small pieces of chocolates, sweet breads glazed with honey, roasted nuts, sweet crisp berries covered in sugar and sitting in crème. Rich frothy milk to follow, that was his life, that was what he knew.

So he followed Naruto easily, gripping the fur of his shoulder with one hand he walked at ease next to the wolf. He did so all the way to the head quarters, upon entry, his guards saluted him. The child stopped when he saw the masked men. Naruto glanced to the boy. "Gentlemen, I know it's not really in my power to do so, but you are making the boy uncomfortable with your masks, is it possible for you to remove them?"

The two looked to each other than shrugged. They took of their masks. Upon seeing that they were just normal men beneath the boy relaxed. The child followed him down into the lower levels. "Right in here." He led the boy into a brightly lit room. A couple of the interrogation squad were already there, a few were on the ground preparing the seals for the mind purging ceremony.

Naruto spoke. "First off I thank-you for coming on such short notice, second I ask that you treat this child with respect and be gently, his name is Kibou, he has recently lost his mother, and is now in a strange place, do you understand?" They all nodded to him. "Next I am going to need someone to go into town and buy many sweets, candies, cookies, cakes, whatever you think a child like this would like get."

"Milk, Milk" the child said snapping awake from his constant day dream before returning. "And...milk I guess." One of the men stood. "I guess...I could go...I know a place nearby." Naruto fumbled around in his collar pouch that he wore most of the time that held his wallet and Ninja registration I.D, it also held an ink well and some paper, as well as a few medical aid things.

"Here, use this" he said tossing his wallet at the man. The man caught it and nodded to him then left. Naruto turned back to the rest. "All right let's get going."

* * *

The boy was placed in the middle of the complex writings of seals. The air was charged with chakra and the floor seemed to pulse and glow with it. For a moment Naruto thought that the floor had came to life and was now a living creature itself. Naruto sat next to the child, to keep him calm through the proceedings.

As one the four Yamanaka members of the interrogation squad went through a complex series of seals. Then all four of them then stopped their hands in the position that the clan used to initiate the beginning of entry of a person's mind. Everyone stood stalk still. Naruto held his breath, he knew the risk for them if they couldn't concentrate their minds.

Suddenly Kibou became slack, his eye-lids flickered closed. His head dropping he drooped in his chair. Naruto glanced around all four members also held a degree of slackness in their stance. Kibou suddenly awoke. He turned his head to Naruto, his eyes alert. "Sir, this is Spider, I am in control of the boys speech and motor functions, I am doing this while Kingsnake, Eagle and Mastiff go in deeper."

Naruto nodded. "I will be keeping you updated through the proceedings." "Very well, and please be gentle as you can." Naruto warned. "We understand the frailness of his mind, young minds are delicate, but this one even more so." Naruto nodded. "Very well, I have faith in you." It was several minutes before Spider spoke again.

"We have learned much so far, you were smart sir to do this, we have confirmation of the main Hyuga branches involvement." Naruto sighed as much as he wanted to prove Neji right, he also hoped Neji was wrong, if this were true, no one could be trusted, if even the oldest clan of Konoha was willing to sell them out who could they trust anymore?

Naruto nodded. "Very well gather the information you consider worthy." The man nodded. "Very well, Eagle and Mastiff will leave and begin the transfer." Naruto glanced over to Eagle and Mastiff's forms. They snapped awake. They created clones to stand in their place as they prepared special scrolls. Over the years, the Yamanaka had developed a way to be able to transfer the memories of people into special scrolls, so they would be able to be viewed by anyone, much like a television set.

A stream of chakra began to be emitted from the boys forehead to the men standing over the scrolls. A chakra link carrying the precious information. Naruto backed away and made sure he didn't even breath near it. Who knows what could happen if the link was broken. It was a long while for the transfer to be complete.

By the end the men, and Kibou had a sheen of sweat on their bodies. But with one last push, they finished the purge and all of them descended back into their own bodies. Naruto nuzzled Kibou. The child looked up, clearly exhausted, but he did not look like he had been harmed mentally or physically. Naruto nodded to his squad.

"Finish up and go rest, go to the bar and have a few drinks on me, you deserved it." Spider chuckled. "That sounds like an excellent idea, but we will have to pass, thank you for the offer though." Naruto nodded to them. The man who had left for sweets returned with bags full. He also brought the milk that Kibou instantly claimed.

Naruto chuckled as the child came to life, snacking and gorging on the sweets. Naruto himself was tempted to try some as well, but knew he shouldn't. But after the exertion put on his young body and after the feast of candy. Kibou fell asleep. Naruto had him placed on his back and he walked back to Tomi's house carrying the boy and the leftover feast.

Tomi was waiting for them and opened the door for Naruto. Naruto placed the child on the coach and turned to Tomi. "We have a success, and the boy was not harmed, here, these sweets are how you get to him, he also like milk, might want to take that into consideration." Tomi sighed. "Great, I am lactose intolerant."

Naruto chuckled and said goodbye to Tomi then left for home. He looked to the horizon. He knew what would be done, the information in the scrolls would be passed to Kakashi. Kakashi would view them and decide what would be done to the Hyuga clan. Kakashi was just and smart, he would think of the perfect way for them to be punished.

Naruto would have to leave soon he, and several other demons would help Biskask on her quest back home. The journey would be long, and into the unknown, but it would be a journey worth having. He knew that Sasuke would also soon find the rock that Kakashi needed for the rebuilding of the wall. He would fly fast and save much time, while he was on the back of Imasen.

Naruto also knew that now that Konoha was a sanctuary for many a demon, and more coming each day. They would have to find a place for all of them to live, somewhere all would be comfortable. He walked home contemplating all these things. His life had many adventures, and held many more to come, his story was long, and seemed to never end.

Storms seemed to always be weathering on the horizon, but that was they way of storms, they formed, lashed out, but passed eventually, all one had to do was survive and fight through them. Who was to say what would happen in the next chapter of his life? Even he nor the gods could know, but he knew no matter what he would face it with his friends and loved ones, and he would prevail, and one day his war would be over.

He was Uzumaki Naruto, a child that was born a human, but lived a demon, and living as a demon, he became a better man from it. You did not need to be human to have humanity, you need only the spirit. He came upon his home, and stopped and gazed on it. Three pups scampered out the door and ran towards him. In the dying sunlight, they seemed to glow.

They came to a stop before him crashing into one another. He laughed and leaned down to lick each of them. He lifted his head to see Yume come out to him. She fell in next to him. Licking his cheek, they walked back to the house where Hinata was cooking and Kiba and Hime were playing with Akamaru. Tails entwined and heads together Yume and Naruto talked about their future, and the future of the pups, and the future pups they might have, but no matter what they spoke of each knew, that the darkness in their life was lifted, and that all their futures would bright, bright like the sun glinting off a young wolf pups fur.

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**Sorry about the time, I have been super busy, and then I went back home for break, and then work and blah blah blah, well here it is.**

**NSW**


	95. Relics Of The Past

**Life As A Fox**

**Chapter 94**

**NSW**

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**50 Years Later**

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The wind blew gently, almost like the caress of a lover. Like always the breeze carried the scent of leaves upon it. For thirty years he had stood over his village, scenting the wind every summer. It seemed to always be the strongest on warm summer nights such as these. For many a year he had served his village leading it and guiding it, as the first Wolf demon Hokage. Uzumaki Naruto, a legend, a hero, and some even whispered he was a god.

But this was not so. He was but a demon, he only had wisdom beyond his years to guide him. He nodded silently to the night air, he was happy with tonights calm. He turned and walked down the long trail from the top of the monument.

He was no longer Hokage, he had retired a few summers ago, giving a fresh voice and body and a strong will the position, his time had passed, he had known and felt it. It was now Uchiha Itachi's turn to lead the village. Sasuke's eldest son had earned it, surpassing the man who he was named after even.

Surpassing his own father, even, though Sasuke still would not admit it, defiant to the end that man was. Naruto chuckled to himself as he mulled over the passing of the years. Many things had happened. A new wall had been built, protecting the village once more.

A demons sector had been built in the town, a place for all demons to live. Large buildings had been built for the Earth chargers, a smithery shop had been set up for the beserkers, who crafted their powerful and special weapons. The bears fletched their potent and unmatched arrows, and crafted their bows as well. Providing Konoha defenses like no other.

Outside of Konoha was a path that lead to the high pastures, a place where the cavalry units were held, it was also where the horses, elks, and deer, and all other herd animals lived in peace. The wolves, foxes and hyena's alike claimed the underground passages, and had entrances to and from their domain all over the city.

Lions, tigers, cheetah's and leopards had their tower, built with large flat platforms for them to bask in the sun. So many demons, contributing and helping to make Konoha the better. Naruto walked through the always familiar streets, this was his home, this was where he belonged.

He looked to the stars, so many and so bright, they twinkled down. He knew that somewhere up there, his precious students of so long ago looked down on him, he knew that Kakashi, Iruka, Neji, Gai, Sai, all those he had lost through the years, some in their age, some from a mission, and some dying with a smile, knowing they had died doing the right thing.

He turned up the familiar street to where Kiba and Hinata still lived to this day, he and Yume joined them as well. Yume was waiting for him at the edge of the path, she always had done that. She smiled when she saw him. He smiled back and jogged over to her.

"Careful, you are not a spring pup any longer" He grinned. "That may be so, but I am not a grizzled muzzle yet." He licked her on the muzzle and the two walked towards the house. "Hime and her husband are here" she said. Naruto grinned. "I can smell that, are any of our pups visiting?"

Yume glanced to him, "From which litter?" "Any of the three" Yume scoffed. "You know how young wolves are, off on the town, running about like a bunch of wild animals, no respect for their parents or elders." Naruto chuckled. "You my dear are like a fine wine, every year you get stronger"

Yume chuckled. "That may be, that may be." "I still love you no matter how strong you get." He said nuzzling her. She sighed. They entered the house. Hime's dog, Aki, rushed them. Like her father, Aki was a large brute of a mutt, but she was tall and slender, much more beautiful with her russet fur.

She danced around Naruto and Yume. Naruto sighed. "I am to old to have to control these beasts all the time." Hime chuckled and ran over to control Aki. "Down, girl, down." She said. She leaned down and hugged Naruto. "Hello Fluff fluff" she said smiling from ear to ear.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "I will never live down that name, just you remember it was thanks to me and Yu-Yu that you are here." Hime stood up rolling her eyes. "Of course, of course, my you are like any old geezer going on about their heroics in their old glory days."

"Old glory days? I am still in my glory days! I may be retired but I still have all my skills!" Yume chuckled. "Calm my love, she is young, remember? Young ones do not know how to respect those who know better." Naruto rolled his eyes and entered the kitchen.

"Naruto" Hinata said smiling, her hair faded and streaked with white, yet she still held her beauty. Kiba didn't look like he aged a day, sure he had gotten taller, and a little broader, he had faint wrinkles on his face, but despite that he still looked the same, something with his genetics he guessed.

Naruto yawned and got up on a chair. "How was tonight?" "Peaceful and at rest, all is good." "I would expect so." Kiba said digging into his supper. Hinata served Naruto his he thanked her and dug in as well. "I wouldn't say, it has been said that something is going on in the sound."

Kiba rolled his eyes. "Naruto, there is always something going on in the sound, it's there nature." Naruto shook his head. "No, I have heard mutterings of a great beast they have, one so strong it can kill even demons." "I great beast? Where on earth would they get that? And why? The sound accepts demons like every other damned country, why would they want one that destroys them?"

Naruto shrugged, "Maybe it's the fact that they have so few, they want to get more demons, none want to live there or join their ranks." "Maybe because they have a beast that is a demon killer?" Kiba said. Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Everyone is in a race to try and get as many demons as possible on their side, as if we are a novelty item, but we are a people as well, we have a heritage and a culture, and most importantly we have standards, we would not so foolishly join rank with anyone."

Kiba sighed, "It's a wonder you managed to step down from Hokage, you still act as though you wear the hat still." Naruto stuck his tongue out at Kiba. Kiba scoffed. They settled down and ate, enjoying supper and each other's company.

Hime and grown into a beautiful woman. She kept her hair short through the years and she dressed and acted more like her mother each day. "Where is Ketchi?" Naruto asked, inquiring about Hinata and Kiba's son.

"He's on a mission." Hinata said settling down in her chair. Sipping her tea. Naruto nodded "Very well then, I think I might go out tonight, see how the tenge is doing." Yume chuckled. "Give him my regards" Naruto nodded and leaped down from the table.

"See you guys later." "Bye Naruto" Hinata said waving him off. He gave her a grin and headed for the door. Glancing at the pictures that littered the walls of the hallway. The first was Kiba and Hinata's wedding picture, from all those years ago, faded but still there. Next was Hime's baby picture, then it was Naruto and Yume, with their first litter of pups, on and on the memories went by, Hime graduating academy, Naruto accepting the title of Hokage.

Naruto and Yume's second litter, Vako, a pure black wolf with his mother striking green eyes. Kama their second daughter, with fur like the bark of a tree, deep mahogany, littered with streaks of sand. Her eyes burning like a warm amber. Doka was by far Naruto's largest son, one of the biggest wolves in the village.

Standing at least a head taller then all other wolves, he was strong as an ox, and was hard headed like one as well. His fur was gray like smoke, his eyes equally gray as well. In their third litter, they got two last pups, both girls, Nami and Narka, one black with a white front paw, and one white with a black front paw, both also had one blue eye and one green eye.

People said that they were each others missing piece, which is why they were so close to one another. Both were masters at genjutsu, they had trained and studied under Sasuke's watchful eye. Naruto was proud of all his pups. They all had grown into strong and loyal wolves of Konoha, each of them had became an important task member of the wolf brigade, an exclusive combat team for wolves only.

Mashi, in fact was their leader, the little spitfire, had his heart and will. So much burning will in such a small wolf. But he still managed to take out even his younger and larger brother Doka. Minato was an Anbu captain, following in his footprints, or should he say pawprints? But either way, Naruto and Yume had brought young life into this world that was filled with strength, will and perseverance.

Naruto yawned as he made his way to the Uchiha district, entering he looked around, Itachi the current Hokage was in his house across the way from his fathers. The lights were still lit in the living room, Naruto could see the silhouettes of Itachi's wife and his son. "Good evening 7th" Naruto turned to Itachi who he noticed was taking out the trash.

"Evening 8th, your father home?" "Out back fighting invisible enemies." Naruto rolled his eyes. Sasuke never rested with that sword of his, always training and chopping away at everything. Naruto smirked. "Very well, I will go make sure he dosen't cut a hand off." "Please do" Itachi said. "Oh, Naruto" he said using his name.

Naruto turned. "I was wondering if I could get some guidance from you, from an older Hokage to a younger." "You have been doing the job for ten years, I would think you would know how it all goes by now?" Naruto inquired. Itachi glanced around, it was the unspoken symbol that what was said next was for their ears only.

Naruto stepped closer. "That may be, but I am a Hokage who is used to peace, I do not know how delegations for war commence, I grew up in peace, war is from your generation." Naruto closed his eyes. "War, why would one speak of such things? War is pass us, it is beneath us." Itachi ran his hand through his long hair.

In the moonlight, he really did look like the Itachi that was known as Sasuke's older brother. "Okay maybe not war, but there is a storm brewing." Naruto sighed. "Very well, I shall visit you in your office tommorow, but fret not, like I always said, storms will brew and form, but all of them pass." Itachi did not look relaxed.

Naruto stepped closer. "Come here" He said. Itachi knelt down to his knee. Naruto placed a paw on his shoulder. "You have a good head on your shoulders and a strong will in your heart, don't let the fear of failure, or the fear of being wrong stop you from leading your people, I know, you did not grow up in an era of war, but you have to learn things by yourself through trial and era, I will help with what I can, but you are Hokage, now, and I?"

Naruto smiled softly, "As many people like to say, I am a relic from the past, I am old, my use and my purpose has ran out it's course, it's time for the torch to fall to someone else, someone new, young and strong, someone else will carry on the story, I chose you to do so, not because I had a hunch not because of your skill or your bloodline, although these are taken in consideration."

Naruto turned and looked at the moon, then back into Itachi's eyes. "No, I chose you because I can see into your heart, I know what lies there even if you do not, so follow it, it will guide you and mentor you, now go and be with your family, embrace life and always remember everything you do, mistake or not, is a lesson and will guide you into a better future."

Naruto nodded and turned. "You really are a wise old wolf, you know that right?" Naruto chuckled. "A lot of people call me an old wolf but few call me wise anymore." Itachi laughed. "Well run along, tell the stubborn mule I said hi." Naruto shook his head as he padded across the street to Sasuke's house. A light was on in the kitchen, Naruto saw Momoko, Sasuke's last living wife.

Sektsi had died on a mission, protecting her students from a mad man with out of control chakra levels. Mitsu who bore two children, died after one of her performances, the theater had caught fire, it was said that she had went back to get her instrument, she could not leave it to be destroyed by the flames. Both blows were hard on Sasuke, and Naruto was there both times to console him, he knew what if felt like to lose precious people.

But Sasuke had weathered through them and he and Momoko raised the seven Uchiha siblings together. All of them had activated their sharingan and all of them were married except the youngest, a boy named Ritsu, who was 20 he had just became Jounin not to long ago and was also the 2nd in command of the cavelry.

Naruto passed by the window and went to the back yard. Old Imasen stood in the structure that they had erected for him. Tall and open so he could come and go as he pleased. He also had fresh straw to lie on, a trough filled with clear water and all the grain he wanted. Naruto nodded his head to his fellow demon, Imasen snorted and nodded his head back.

Sasuke was in the middle of the yard, his blade danced around him flickering like a star. Naruto stood and watched him for some bit. Sasuke's hair was longer now, but still remained in it's usual fashion rising in the back and to bangs parting down the sides of his head. Streaks of gray now ran through his hair, his body through remained strong like in his youth, daily practice and critical watch on what he ate made sure of it.

Sasuke turned and grinned. "Still getting around?" Naruto rolled his eyes. "Yeah I am still kicking you old mule, haven't you slipped and fell in the tub yet and died?" Sasuke laughed. "No, although had a few close calls." Naruto padded over to him. Sasuke went and sat down on the bench underneath a nearby willow tree.

Naruto sat next to him. This was how many a night passed between the two old friends. Sitting together watching the stars, sometimes talking, sometimes not. Sasuke scratching Naruto's ears and neck on occasion and just living. "There is another storm." Naruto said. "I know, Itachi comes to me almost every night, he is handling the situation so far, but growing up in peace means you have no idea what to do during war."

"There is not going to be a war, this is a different feel, this is not war at all, this is something else." "That may be, but they have to face it not us." Sasuke answered him. Naruto nodded. But something didn't feel right. "Maybe, maybe not, but I do feel like this is happening fro a reason, that what happens next will be important."

"Maybe, but whatever it is, we will survive through it like we always do, old geezers like us never die it seems." Naruto chuckled. "Yeah, so it seems." They were silent for the rest of the night. Until Momoko called Sasuke to bed and Naruto left and padded back home. Making his way through the streets once more.

He curled up on the pillow next to Yume, on the floor in the living room, next to the fireplace that he had put in. He listened to the sound of the burning wood, and scented it's distinct fragrance then drifted off to sleep.

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A grating howl peirced the air. Naruto finished tearing the jugular out of the man who dared try and attack him. Fear trembled down his spine. He felt the power source of the creature, the beast. A genetic expirament gone horrible wrong, on purpose. Imagine a tailed beast, all that power, all that strength, in a body that was as large as an elephant, agile as a cat, feirce as a wolf, and as angry as a wild boar.

That was what this creature was, this was the demonsbane, the demons own powers turned and used agianst them. The chakra of this creature was massive, it was also wild and uncontrolled. It attacked and lashed out at random, not even the beast had control of it. The beast itself looked like a lion and a wolf together then super sized.

It's jaws elongated and filled with gnashing, tearing fangs. Naruto and Itachi had tried to bargain and reach through to the sound with diplomacy, they had sent two diplomats. A demon and human pair, three days later Konoha had received their heads. The sound believed that with their new creation they could finally be on top.

They the ones always ridiculed and pushed aside like trash, they who all were offspring of the experiments of the snake sannin, they with their strange abilities and horrifying curses, were tired of the world they had, they wanted a better life and so they turned to what they knew best to make it so. Fighting and bloodshed, not a war, but a large scale attack.

Their forces scattered all through the village, attacking like hornets. Striking multiple places at once. Konoha could on writhe in her discomfort as her defenses organized themselves. Naruto made a few clones. "Go! Report that I have sighted the creature and I will engage and hold it off!" The clones scattered. Naruto turned growling defiantly.

He stepped forward, breast plate on, and all the Anbu gear that had laid in his closet for so long once again he wore with honor, and stained with blood. The creature screamed again. It's tails lashing, four of them. The earth beneath the creature cracked and crumbled along with the buildings nearby it. Naruto grunted as he pushed against the force of the creatures chakra with his own.

It screeched at him. A high grating one that made him wince and put his ears back. He bared his fangs, emitting a ferocious growl of his own. The creature narrowed it's eyes at him, studying this small frail looking creature before him that dare rise against him. A tail lashed forward like a whip. Naruto at the last second leaped to the side.

The earth cracked and caved in where he once stood, a large rut running down a substantial length of the street. Naruto charged forward, his chakra shields at their highest as he performed his signiture Wolf's Brigade attack. His chakra clones running beside him. He lept forward, aiming for the creatures shoulders.

Like lightning the creature whirled around and struck him with two of the four tails. It caused him no damage, however his sheilds were broken and he was propelled backwards. He slammed into a wall and rolled down it. Momentarily stunned from the force. He coughed as he staggered up. Nothing broken, but he was rattled.

He shook himself off and growled again. The creature bounded forward. Naruto whimpered as the creature landed on him. Claws digging into his skin. The creature reered it's head back, preparing to bury it's fangs into Naruto's flesh. Naruto was not going to have it. He snapped his head to the side and buried his fangs into the creatures wrist, tearing and ripping with as much ferocity as possible.

The creature screemed in agony. It batted him to the side with his other paw. Naruto rolled onto his feet and stood ready. Blood spilled down his sides and from his fangs, but at the moment he did not care. The creature walked on three paws now. Naruto noted that the paw he had attacked was limply hanging by a fleshy flab of skin.

Black blood draining from it. The creature roared pain ignored. Naruto dashed to the side as the creature swiped at him. It missed but he had to dodge it's lashing tails as well as he ran for cover. Naruto hid beneath the stones of a destroyed building. The creature looked about, then put its head down, growling as it smelled his blood on the ground.

It licked it in fervor then lifted it's head, scenting the air for him. It snapped it's head in his direction. Eyes piercing into his. It roared and bound over the ground. Naruto swore and scurried through a hole just in time. The creature crashed into the stone, losing it's balance and momentum. Naruto lunged taking his opportunity.

He latched on to the creatures neck, tearing and biting, holding on with a wolf's iron grip. The creature spasmed and contorted, trying to release him. It yowled, hissed, spat, screamed batting at him with it's good paw and tails, but he held on. Tasting that bitter black blood, feeling that pulse against his tongue, wishing for it to stop, wishing for it to die.

The creature slammed itself into a wall. Finally knocking Naruto off. Naruto fell to the ground. He had hit his head against the wall and was having difficulty recovering from such a blow. Foggily he knew he had to get up. The creature was shaking it's head now and glaring at him, it was growling as it's fangs bared and hovered as it stalked forward towards him.

With a trumpet like sound, a horse bounded in. Leaping it's hooves struck the creatures head as he vaulted itself over the creature. It was Imasen and Sasuke. Sasuke lept off Imasens back and landed in front of Naruto. His sword drawn and sharingan activated.

Naruto staggered upwards. Sasuke glanced back to him. "So, this is the creature?" Naruto nodded. "Yes, fast, strong, and has a shit ton of chakra, not to mention annoying and loud with it's screeching." Sasuke smirked, "So like you when you were a genin?"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Ha ha tenge." Naruto said. The beast shook itself from Imasen's blows. Imasen stood to the side, reared up, whinnying and pumping his front hooves. The creature snarled and bounded forward. Sasuke shot an arm out, lightning filled the space between them, crackling and surging with power. A lightning storm sprung to life the creature was hit, thrown back from the force it landed on its back writhing and scrambling to get back up.

Sasuke cut off the lightning and instead a tornado of flames roared to life, surrounding the creature and trapping it. Naruto created many clones, they formed a protective circle around the fire tornado. Sasuke stopped, panting slightly from the effort of using and feeding so much elemental chakra. The flames died down Naruto struck, all of his clones swarming the beast.

The beast gave a feral growl then stopped moving, standing stalk still. Naruto sensed something was very bad, he tried to remove himself from the beast he didn't have to try to hard. He and his clones were slammed into the ground by chakra, the force of it bearing down on him. His clones all disappeared as the pressure increased, he couldn't move, he could barely breath, pain flared through every inch of him.

He heard the creaking of his bones as some of the more weakened ones began to splinter and crack. He howled out in pain as three of his ribs cracked. He could feel the pressure increase. He managed to look up into the creatures eyes. They burned into him. "NARUTO!" Sasuke yelled out. Sasuke ran forward, sword drawn. The creature turned it's head and it was as if Sasuke ran into a brick wall.

He literally ran into something invisible and he was propelled backwards. He landed on his back, he moaned as he started to get back up. But he was pushed down with a sickening crunch. He cried out. "Sasuke!" Naruto managed to cry. "My...collar bone...broken" he choked out. Naruto growled lowly. The creature walked forward hissing as it shifted it's paw back.

The paw began to descend, Naruto could only watch it as it came towards him, arching through the air, razor sharp claws, drawing closer and closer to him, moments away from digging into his flesh and ending his life. But it was not his moment to die, fate had decided another would. Imasen thundered in, shouldering his way through. His body standing over Naruto he trumpeted as he lashed out with his hooves. Battering the creature.

But the creature was angry, and weary of battle with them, he wished to end it. So he did, fast as lightning it's cat like reflexes lashed out, slicing Imasen from his shoulder to his hip. Blood gushed like a waterfall from his open cavity. With a feral cry he collapsed his body thudding, the ground and Naruto stained with his warm blood, that had once coursed through a body that loved the freedom of running and the thrill of battle.

Imasen rolled his wide eyes to Naruto. Not a word was spoken, he just blinked and a weak nicker left his lips as he exhaled and his soul left the world, escaping into another, and there he stood beside his father and the two of them watched over the herds that both had protected all their lives.

Naruto howled in pain. But thankfully the pressure upon them was released, he rose and attacked with furocity in vengence for the loss of his old friend. Sasuke rose and attacked with him. Together they managed to push the beast back. Their was a pause in the fighting. Naruto and Sasuke stood hunched slightly facing the creature, standing together in front of Imasen's body.

Sasuke glanced back, tears trailing down his face at the loss of his old and noble friend. "Sasuke, we must stop this now." "How?" he said turning to Naruto. "THis is no normal flesh and blood creature, it was created by dark ninjutsu, blood sacrifices, gene mutation, it is how a demon would be if demons were actully bad."

Naruto snorted despite the situation. "That may be, but everything can be vanquished Sasuke." "We can't kill it Naruto, whatever it is, sure it would be defeated for a bit, but it would manifest itself once more." "Then we will have to trap it.." Naruto said thinking. "Seal it you mean? How?" Naruto glanced to him.

"As far as I know I am the last of the Uzumaki, their knowledge flows in me, the blood of my human in my demon veins, I sealed your Sasunoo, all those years ago, I can seal this beast..." There was a pause as Sasuke ended up building a barrier of flame to give them more time to plot. "This is not like that Naruto, it is far stronger, ytou have no idea what it would do to you...how much effort it would take, you could di-" "I know my limits Sasuke, I can do this."

Naruto said assuring him. Sasuke looked dubious for a few moments, but finally nodded agreeing. "What will you seal it in? We have nothing, no sacred urn, no scroll could contain it, and I don't think you plan on sealing it inside a child, most likely it would kill it." "I would never create the life I had for another, no one deserves that."

Naruto said darkly. He growled and glanced to Sasuke's side. "Your sword" Sasuke stiffened and looked to him. "My what?" Sasuke glanced down. "This...my sword...I..it's..." "WOULD YOU LET GO OF YOUR ARROGENT PRIDE! THIS IS FOR THE SAKE OF KONOHA! OR IS KONOHA EVEN SACRIFICIBLE TO YOU AS WELL?!" Naruto yelled anger unsheathed.

Sasuke tilted back from his snarling friend, whos bared fangs, rigid fur, and burning eyes made even he back down. "I was not hesitating because of pride I was hesitating cause of sense, is it possible to bind _that_" He said motioning to the trapped beast. "To this" he said holding his blade up. Naruto nodded.

After a long look into each others eyes. The two old friends agreed. Sasuke spoke. "How long do you need?" "Some time" Naruto said. Sasuke dropped the blade down. He pushed his sleeves back and brushed sweat and hair out of his face. "I will get it for you." He said biting his thumb and summoning several mid size snakes.

They were about as long as a house, wide enough to swallow a horse and have room for extra, and all three were the color of slate, with green-yellow eyes. "Triplets! Lets go!" He yelled rushing forward and starting to combat the creature. Naruto turned and looked at Imasen.

"Your sacrifice, will not be in vain, old friend" he said stepping forward and dipping his tail in the blood. He turned and began to write out the sequences of kanji. Creating a barrier ring to isolate the sword, he then began to write out the lines, they branched out in the shape of a five point star, rings interconnecting them as they branched out.

Naruto looked up, the snakes were wrapped around the creature biting and digging their fangs into it. Sasuke was striking the creature in multiple places with his weapons, chidori blades and anytime the creature tried to run or bite at the snakes he tossed fire in it's face. Sasuke was panting and sweating profusely at the amount of energy.

Sasuke turned to him. "How much longer?!" He yelled. Naruto looked up. "This is very tedious work! One wrong stroke and it won't work!" "Goddammit Naruto! I can't keep this up! Feeding chakra to three summonings and constantly using jutsu's!" "Age finally caught up to you then didn't it?" Naruto said finishing up a line and moving onto the next.

There was a burst of energy from the creature, it sent all of the snakes flying. One sailed over Naruto's head, luckily missing him and his work. The creature charged forward. Sasuke who was knocked down by one of his snakes. He saw the beast coming for him. He turned to pull himself up, leaning on his injuried side. Pain suddenly coursed through his body, stalling him.

The beast struck, by his quick reflexes, Sasuke managed to miss a killing blow. But the beasts claws sliced into his side, just above the hip. He screamed out, his legs pumping and kicking out as he propelled himself backwards. Away from the beast. One of the snakes came to his aid. Wrapping around and managing to hold the creature back so Sasuke could escape.

He managed to bring himself to his feet. Clutching his side and limp running to Naruto he glanced at him. Naruto gritted his teeth. His heart was pounding in his chest. "You okay?" Naruto asked glancing down at the blood running in rivulets down Sasuke's side, staining his clothes. "Obviously not." He said. Naruto could already tell he was much paler then normal.

"Where is back-up? I sent clones out a long time ago!" "We are isolated, the enemy is all over, I barely managed to get here, me and Imasen had to charge through a tide of grunts to get here." "Dammit" Naruto said. Sasuke staggered. "Stay with me Sasuke." Naruto said suddenly, his heart aching already. Sasuke gave a nod. Naruto growled and made clones, creating a line of defense for them.

"What do you have to do next?" "I need to concentrate my elemental chakras, and capture the creature." "Good luck with that" Sasuke said. Naruto growled and closed his eyes. Letting everything fall from mind, all his thoughts, all his recollections of what was going on. He went to his own place. Balancing and harmonizing all five chakra types within.

Something he did not do very often, he may concentrate a different element, or even two, but all five, was a very rare occurrence indeed. First he started with his base chakra, wind, then moving to water, next was earth, lightning, fire, then wood, it was always the hardest to concentrate the energy of something living. When he had all the elements, flowing in him, the wispiness of wind, the tranquility of water, the solidity of earth, vibrance of lightning, the passion of fire and then finally the exhumation of wood.

He opened his eyes, staring at the beast, looking it down, seeing into it, seeing all its evil, all of it's unnatural power. It was not meant for this world nor any world, leave it to man to create a monster. With the calm of all elements flowing in him he expanded his powers outward, forming a great wolf head, swirling about it split into five smaller heads, each crackling with the energy of it's own element.

Naruto sent it forward, they heads snarled and howled as they surrounded the beast and then they touched the creature, it was then Naruto knew that something terrible would happen, for he knew what he would have to do, to seal this creation away.

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**I originally wanted to do this in one chapter, but I guess I will be doing another one or two more chapters, sorry about the wait last semester of school and dorm changes.**

**Blarg.**

**NSW**


	96. What Makes A Hero

**Life As A Fox**

**Chapter 95**

**NSW**

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**I am so sorry you guys, I left you waiting like that. Here is a list of the things that have happened to me which made me take so long.**

**-Graduated College**

**-Moved back home-**

**-Adjusted to new Job**

**-Discovered my Muse once more.**

**So yes, that is why it took so long, but here it is, the next Chapter! **

**Enjoy!**

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Naruto closed his eyes, concentrating on his inner heartbeat, blocking out the sounds of the battle. He had to make a decision. Weighing out all the options, he made his choice, for the better of Konoha, he would sacrifice himself. He opened his eyes a calm settling in him from his new resolve. "Sasuke..." he spoke. "What!? I am a little fucking busy at the moment!" The irritated Sasuke yelled at him. Naruto spoke after a moment, the words weighing heavy on him. "Be there for Yume, like I was there for you, losing the soul bond of a mate is the hardest thing anyone can take." He said looking down, knowing all to well the pain, he wished he would have to put his precious Yume through it, but he knew that she would come to understand, she would have wanted him to sacrifice himself then have this creature destroy everything that they had built together.

Sasuke turned his eyes wide. "Naruto...no! You can't be serious!" He nodded. "I am, I must do this, to protect the village, I swore an oath." He spoke sternly, convincing the both of them. "I may not be Hokage anymore, but the oath still stands, my blood, my life, for the blood and life of Konoha, served until a glorious death may be met." He said quoting the ending of the oath he took for office. Sasuke grunted in pain from his wound. "NO Naruto, listen to yourself! Sasuke roared at him. "There has to be another way!" he said frantically.

Naruto shook his head slowly, "This is the end of the trail Sasuke, my final hunt, my last stand." "Dammit Naruto, don't you remember? What happens when you die? You can't go anywhere, you will be stuck here, cursed to wander, do you want that?" Naruto sighed. "I know Sasuke, but I can't live forever, I can't avoid it, you can only run so much, I am strong now Sasuke. I will handle the eternity of walking between worlds."

Sasuke cursed limping forward he spoke. "NO, it was by my doing that you were condemned, let me repay the blood of long ago, use my soul...please...while I still have claim of it." Naruto stared at him. "No...Sasuke, I will not let you sacrifice yourself! You are my best friend" "Shut-up! How do you think I feel?" Sasuke cried out, voice ragged.

A moment passed, Sasuke voice continued, speaking in a dark whisper. "You are my best friend as well, hell...we are like brothers, but the fact of the matter still stands, that a long time ago, I took your life in a reckless and unjust way, that debt has yet to be paid, no matter how many times you say it is forgiven, I still hold it heavily on my heart."

Sasuke continued. "I have revived my clan, seen my son to be Hokage and save the clans dreaded curse from the future, I have served and lived a long, happy life, protecting my best friend and standing by him through the dark and the light...it is my time Naruto, let me go instead, its my sword, so it should be by my soul as well."

Naruto let a tear fall, this was his oldest friend, his brother, how many years have they been together, how many memories have they shared, sure some where of the darkest ones, but he also shared his best ones as well. "Sa...Sasuke...I...how could I live knowing I used my best friends soul as tribute? Sacrificing him like a pawn?"

"We are Ninja Naruto, you a Hokage, you have sacrificed pawns before, for the better good! You know if you don't do this, what will happen, would you rather me live and have ten innocent slain!? Look at Imasen! He died for the both of us, knowing that we would stop this creature before it harmed others!"

Naruto glanced at the body. "Do not waste his sacrifice, now I am not asking Naruto! I am commanding you! As your friend, as your brother! Use me!" Naruto closed his eyes. All the memories of the past surfacing, the bond between them seeming to swell in magnitude. Something happened, so rare that it seemed almost like magic, when a soul bond grew so strong between people that they share each others thoughts, and can speak to each others souls.

_'I'm Sorry' _he said, looking into Sasuke's eyes. Feeling the beating of Sasuke's heart matching his own. The same cloth, the same person, only in two bodies and hearts, the same warrior, the same hero, divided between the two. _'We weren't made to live forever, besides let me die in battle, with a smile on my face, just like...Nii-San' _Naruto was blinded by tears for a few seconds.

He nodded. "Get over here." Sasuke nodded and stepped forward. The creature during this was still wrestling and fighting of Sasuke's snakes, who were combating the creature with all their might. But not enough it seemed. With a roar the creature broke free of one and sprung out at Sasuke. Swiping at his legs knocking him to the ground.

He cried out, fresh blood welling from the cut on the back of his legs. Naruto's heart thudded in his chest, he started forward but stopped when he heard a feral growl and the scent of sand warming in the sun. A strangled cry broke from his lips as he watched Yume lunge and leap upon the freed paw of the creature, stopping it from harming Sasuke more.

"YUME!" He cried out. She ripped and tore at the paw with all her might. Putting up a fight like no other. This distraction was what the snakes needed to tighten their hold on the creature. Finally the creature swung Yume away. She flipped end over end in the air crashing into a pile of debris. Naruto turned to her, feeling her pain through their bond.

"Yume!" He cried searching frantically for her. He saw her familiar pelt rise up. She grunted as she turned her heads toward him. "Told...you...I am no...old wolf..." he stared at her for some time. "Na...Naruto" Naruto turned and looked at Sasuke. He had rolled over on his back, looking up at him, a hand out stretched. "Do it"

He nodded once more, he concentrated on the five elemental chakra's harnessing their powers and pushing them outwards, forming them into powerful spectres. He sent them to Sasuke. They grabbed him and dragged him over to one side of the circle. Naruto glanced to him. Sasuke gave him a small smile and nod, reassuring him.

Naruto felt another tear fall from him. He sent the elemental wolves after the beast, both the wolves and snakes dragged it spitting and fighting towards the seal. When all was settled he closed his eyes. Doing the hundreds of signs that it would take to summon the god of death. Slowly, a blackness began to fill the area, a swirling dark mist, oppressing and sinister.

Death was everywhere, in every breath, in every heartbeat, he felt as though he was being slowly killed himself. Then it appeared, above him. It's bony long arms, grotesquely held out, clawed hands clutching a scroll and between it's sharp rotted teeth was a rusty black shirt sword. Naruto could feel a heaviness, a darkness weigh down on him. Suffocating everything good and bright, making him feel as though everything would be better if he would just die.

It had been a long time, since he had wanted to die, to feel the same feelings he had then and to think the same things. But he closed his eyes, and remembered everything good that there was and could be. He turned to Sasuke, knowing that Sasuke would be feeling the same things, and would need help to survive this, but then again what was the point, he needed to survive this only to die later?

He would just make it quick then. A raspy, dark voice, emanating from everywhere filled the place. Naruto noted that even the creature silenced itself and stopped moving. _**"So once again, I am summoned, how interesting..."**_ Naruto spoke. "I am your summoner, I order you to rid us of this creature, seal it, within this sword."

Naruto said sternly glaring at the death god. Coldly it chuckled, its head tilting back at too far an angle to be natural. It swiveled its head towards the creature. The Shingami rubbed its rotted fingers together, it's long dirty claws grating against one another._** "How interesting, very few mortals speak to me as such...but I will gladly do so, when the price has been met."**_

Naruto's heart stopped for a moment too long for his taste. "What do you mean?" the shinigami glared at him, it's eyes turning red with anger._** "You dare to take a god of death for granted!?"** _Naruto stepped back. He would admit fear coursed through him._** "One, pitiful soul...in trade for that creature? That power, it takes one soul just to bring me here, another soul of a higher caliber to seal that creatures cursed soul..."**_ The shinigami said, pointing to the creature.

"So...you want two souls? Very well...take mine." Naruto snapped. The shinigami laughed._** "Oh, Uzumaki Naruto, you must have forgotten in all your years...your soul is more cursed than even that creatures there."**_ The shinigami swiveled a yellow dead eye towards him. _**"And it is worthless to anyone except you...no I will take that one's soul as payment, then the fare will be paid."** _Naruto looked out into the darkness.

"Who's?" Yume limped forward. Naruto stared at her. "NO! you cannot take hers!" Sasuke coughed. Blood covering his lips. "Best take the deal now Uzumaki, while you still have two souls to barter with. Your human won't last long...tick-tock...tick-tock" Naruto growled as Yume limped forward. "Yume go, leave this place! We will find another way to destroy it! We must, I cannot lose you!"

"There is no other way...my love, I will wait for you." She looked into his eyes. "You will always be my other half, but my soul is my own, and I choose to save you, I choose to save Konoha and my pups, and their pups they may have, I have never been a warrior, but now I may have my warriors death...Shinigami take us now!"

Naruto roared for everything to stop. For everything to slow down, surely they could have found a different way? A way that would not need so much sacrifice. But death was greedy, it was always searching for more. Naruto felt, his two biggest and strongest soul bonds leave him. Sasuke first and then Yume, the love of his life, his other half, what could one do when your entire world was taken from you? The ground tore from beneath your feet? Only one thing was possible, you fall, a dying star collapses in on itself then disappears into nothing, taking everything with it.

He was that dying star. He was on the ground, everything white and bright. In the distance he saw to shadows walking away from him. One human one wolf. He heard a delicate whisper on his ear. "Good-bye my love, thank-you for the life you showed me." It was Yume's voice, her presence there with him for only a moment, then it was gone, as if it never existed.

He wanted to cry, to scream, to howl in pain and misery, but he couldn't, he couldn't make a sound, or a noise, he couldn't tell where he was on earth or somewhere else? Was this a dream? Purgatory? What was this place?_ "It is anything you want it to be"_ said a voice, familiar, where had he heard it before, then he remembered, Megumi, his goddess.

She rose out from the brightness. Standing on a floor made of light, in a world made of bright white light. She stood hands folded in front of her. Hair let down, cascading on either side of her neck. She wore a simple elegant white gown, flowing over her silhouette with a noble elegance. "What do you mean?" He asked, lifting his head, all his pain gone.

"Am I dead?" he asked. She smiled softly and tilted her head._ "If you want to be"_ "Are you giving me a choice?" he asked. She walked forward her feet bare, she made no noise._ "After the war of long ago, I was given back my place as a goddess, and in doing so, I was given the ability to un-do one thing from before, I have waited for this moment, of all the choices my father made, the curse he instated on you is the one I wish to un-do, I have waited many years for this to happen, for I need to ask your permission."_

"You...you can get me into the afterlife?" Megumi nodded._ "Yes I can, but this is what you need to know, if I do, your form would revert to what it once was, you would be human once more, and humans cannot enter the afterlife of demons, you would not be able to be with Yume."_ Naruto was at a loss for words. He could go to the afterlife, but he would not be able to see Yume, if he returned to living, he would only miss her until he withered away at her and Sasuke's loss, and even then, he would not be able to see her.

"What of ghosts who travel in-between worlds? Could they enter demon afterlife?" he asked. Megumi paused,_ "Little is known of them, they are...rare, but they do have abilities, ways of crossing into all the realms, they have no rules, no bounds, and there is no way to control or stop them."_ Naruto nodded very will, there was a slim chance, but there was a chance, being a ghost would mean he might one day see her.

"I will decline to your offer, If there is a chance that I can see Yume as a ghost I will take it." Megumi smiled._ "I knew you would, you see father...I told you that this soul was strong."_ She said turning her head. Naruto felt a presence, he could not see anyone. But he felt them, powerful, ancient, omnipotent, it was as if the world had taken form for a second, it was everything there was and would be, this must have been the king of the gods, the creator of all.

**"You are right my daughter, your words have been proven true, he has passed the test, you may do as you requested, you are a very peculiar creation...Uzumaki Naruto, one I shall always remember..."** Then just like that, he was gone. A voice that had drifted in like a thunderstorm and had echoed and deafened everything else, vanished.

Megumi looked to him. _"Let me do just a tad more, I will let you say good-bye to each other...properly..."_ Then Megumi vanished, and Naruto was on earth. He lay on his side, he looked about, only able to move his eyes, his body numb. The sword of Sasukes was stuck in the ground, it's metal glowing hot, and smoke drifting, kanji glared bright red along the blade, ancient kanji, Naruto could only read a few before the vanished. 'The bade of the forsaken'

Naruto coughed, he head a whimpering near him. He recognized it. "Y...yume...I thought...I thought you were gone..." he said, his voice barely a whisper, he felt so...thin, worn down...old...but he also felt completed, as though he achieved something great, and he could now finally rest and be at peace. "We must go...together...I am sorry...I left without you...I came back...for you..."

He managed to lift his head. Turning his body unto his belly, which required a great deal of effort, he dragged himself across the ground towards where Yume rest on her side. She turned her beautiful green eyes to him. The sparkled and shone brighter than all the stars in heaven and never had those greens been so lush and vivid.

_"Naruto...my love...we did it..._" He nodded

"Yes..we have...after so much..."

_"..all our hopes...and dreams..._"

"Accomplished..."

_"We raised up...good pups...that will do so much good in this world..."_

"We did...and we did good ourselves..."

"We changed the future for all demons...and it all started with you..."

"And you kept that fire going..."

_"We have always been together...through thick and thin...even now..."_

"And forever..."

He said his last words, his head fell slowly resting on the ground, as if he were only slumbering. Yume closed her eyes for the last time as well, her head falling delicately next to his, their noses barely touching. One tear, from each of them, fell synchronized both drifted over the fur and long muzzle of each then met each other, the two tears joined together finally, and there they rested, glowing in the setting sun.

* * *

"Minato!" a voice rang out, gathering the young wolf's attention. "Father? What are you doing here!?" "Protecting my village, I am engaging the creature and will hold it off for as long as I can." "Dammit father! That was not your duty, I was going to take a team and handle the situation, stop trying to prove that you are powerful still...we know that! You should not be fighting this thing solo!"

"I know son, but it is my duty, my nindo, no matter what...I am sure you can understand..." Minato growled, sometimes his father could be such a headache to him. He always looked up to his father, who wouldn't? He is so strong, and kind...he is brave and always looking out for you, he always made you feel better about yourself, and he always listened and believed in you...no matter what.

But that was nice when he was a pup, but he was grown now, he could take care of himself, it was Naruto's turn to sit-back and let him take care and protect Konoha, he had to show his father, how much he had learned from him, how big of a role model and how important his father was to him, how much a hero he was to him.

Minato shook his head. "Sir?" One of his captains asked him. "Send back-up to the west side, we have most of the enemies on the east taken care of. Then everyone needs to re-group and we must aid the Eighth Hokage in every way possible, "Somebody contact Mashi and tell him to send his brigade to help the Hokage now!"

"I already heard ya you big flea bag." Minato growled as he turned to his younger brother. "Where is he?" Mashi asked, scratching beneath his jaw with a paw. "I have contained the creature in the center of the-Rah!" The clone of Naruto's collapsed shaking. "In...the merchant...sector...should be easy to find..." "Father...whats wrong!" "injured, this creature, is fast and deadly...so powerful...I am...no match-" Then the clone disappeared.

"Father!" Minato howled. "I'm on it!"Mashi exclaimed his paws pounding into the ground, all the other members of the wolf brigade fanning behind him as quickly as possible they ran. Minato longed to follow, but he had to stay, it was his duty. "GoldenPelt" said Gerbil, his assistant. "Go, I can take care of everything here, your mind may be telling you to stay here, but you must follow your heart go to your father."

Minato nodded and without hesitation ran off, catching up with his brother. "It's about time you caught up!" Minato bared his fangs at his brother and pushed on running a stride faster than his brother, just to annoy him. But the foot-falls of somebody familiar caught up to them. It was their mother, who had always been the fastest wolf, her long legs and slim build made her fly over the ground.

Minato always wished he had inherited his mothers build, he would love to run that fast for so long. Although she claimed that once she could not even run for more then a mile without being exhausted. She had said Naruto had trained her and made her who she was today. She was also such a caring healer, she may have not been a master, but what she lacked in skill she made up with in heart.

"Mom! What are you doing!?" "I sense that your father needs me, I go to him!" "Mom now is not the time, it is dangerous turn back!" Yume turned her head and said in a stern voice. "The day I take a command from a pup that I brought into this world is the day hell freezes over." With that she sprinted ahead of them with ease, making both push themselves to their extreme to keep up.

When they caught up to her she had stopped. Her ears forward she was listening. They all drew up beside her. "Do you feel that?" One wolf said out loud. "Yes...the creature...it's so...dark...and evil...pure evil...it's torture to be this close..." "I can't imagine fighting it...or even looking at it, if it feels like this...from this far away..."

Minato turned. "Knock it off! All of you! We are Demons of Konoha! We stand strong and firm! We do not back down no matter how big nor how terrible the enemy!" Minato growled and stood defiant even though he too was being effected by the same chakra, it was so immense and suffocating, the way it pushed back at him, it was like an invisible chin wrapped around his neck pulling him back and choking him at the same time.

His mother turned to him. "I don't understand...what are you talking about?" Thats right, his mother had a very small chakra network, so it was not affected like theirs. "We have to press forward" He said bringing his head down and pushing against the force, every step seemed to tear him apart. He gritted his teeth and continued. He could hear the sounds of the creature looming closer, the way it roared and screeched.

His heart beat wildly in his chest, he wanted it to stop. He shook his head he had to continue. One of the wolves yelped and snapped. "I can't do it! We are going to our deaths! Death lies ahead!" Mashi turned back and pounced on the wolf. He growled and bared his teeth and the cowering form. "If you want to turn around go ahead! But don't think you can ever come to our flanks ever again! You had better just turn and keep on running for everyone and Konoha would know you as the coward!"

The wolf whimpered but stood back up. "I am sorry, for my cowardice, I...let my fear get the better of me." Mashi snorted. "My father once told me, that it is out of fear, that we do our bravest things, for the fear of losing the ones we love, or the fear of letting ourselves down, will pressure you to climb even the steepest and highest of mountains."

Mashi turned. "So stand up and face your enemy, never back down and never run away, that way you too will know what it is like to be a hero." Minato shivered at his brothers words, he really was like father, he may not look it, but he was every bit just like him. Brash, loud, but also kind, and strong, and never gave up on anything, he always saw the best in people.

"Well said brother." Minato turned he could hear the sound of distant hoof-beats. "The cavalry must have finally got together." "Brother you need your ears checked...that is one horse not twenty." Mashi said. Minato turned and squinted. It was one horse, and one rider. He could tell just by the build and the way the horse and rider moved together, it was Sasuke.

Minato smiled at his 'Uncle' Sasuke brought the great Imasen to a halt. Imasen snorted his eyes wild and ready for battle. Minato backed away slightly, these were two legends. Literally, there were stories and songs made of them and their charge they had made all those years ago, the first human and demon rider pair.

"What do you think Imasen?" Sasuke asked. "This creature is powerful, but not as powerful as us together!" He trumpeted rearing on his back legs, front legs pumping the air wildly. His mane flying in the wind. Sasuke held on easily, sitting languidly as he grinned and faced forward. His eyes bright and shining ready battle.

He turned to them. "I will go ahead first, best not throw all our kunai at once now shall we?" Minato nodded understanding. They waited for sometime, hearing the distant sounds of battle. Minato was unsure of what to do at the moment, something told him to go ahead quickly as possible but he was told to ignore such instincts, they could lead to someone getting hurt or worst.

But then the sickening scream of Imasen hit their ears and then Minato felt a terrible gashing pain rip through him. Bringing him to the ground he tried to catch his breath. Now knowing what was happening to him. He looked to his mother. She stood unaltered, but a sad look on her face a tear falling. She spoke softly. "The soul bond, is a great and terrible curse, the closer you are to a person, the worse the pain you feel when they leave this world."

He faltered unable to form words at the moment. "We must continue." She stated and walked forward. They followed, building up speed until he felt another brief pain spasm through him. His mother turned. "Sasuke is injured, we must hurry!" He nodded and ran to keep up, but his mother was many strides ahead by now.

He pushed ahead only to be thrown back by invisible force. It was strong and dark, evil and cold. It was depression, and disease, death and chaos all in one. "Mother!" He cried out for her. But she must not have heard. He couldn't see her. All that surrounded them was billowing darkness. "I can't tell where we are!" Mashi exclaimed.

It was true, you couldn't smell,hear or see anything. He frantically tried to think of what to do. Then he remembered what his mother had said. The soul bond. If what she said was true, that you were connected to someone, then you should be able to find them with it. He had always been good at meditation and concentration, he had a level head for those sorts of things.

He closed his eyes, and opened his heart, he knew this was a matter of heart and emotion, not brain. He heard his father's voice, but it wasn't as if he was speaking it was more as if he was thinking. "I must do this..,.for Konoha...to save it..forgive me Sasuke." Wait a second? What? What was he doing? Why should Sasuke forgive him? Did Naruto cause this darkness that felt like death what was going on? Where was his mother!?

"I am right here son, please forgive us, you won't understand until later, but let me tell you, we are both so very proud of you all, and that for the young oaks to grow, the old must fall." Then like that her voice, her presence, her everything was gone. He wanted to howl out for her, her cry to do so many things bu he couldn't he was frozen.

A voice, that was death, it was decay and rot, it was pestilence, and the coldest part of darkness that existed. It spoke. "One soul is not enough, two are required for me, hurry with your choice, you human won't last long." He screamed in fear and in confusion. Who's voice was that? What souls? Actual real souls? What in all of the gods name was going on!

Then he heard his mother's voice cry out. "Take us both now!" A flash of light reigned supreme across the land, blinding them all. Knocking them all down. In a daze with ears ringing and his thoughts traveling through mist he managed to open his eyes to see. A pillar of dark energy shooting up into the sky, accented by reds.

Power screamed and shrieked as it was herded and contained. With one last burst and a dying beam into the sky all fell quiet. The only thing that remained was smoke steaming from a sword that stuck in the ground. He and the others moved closer, wondering what was going on and then just when they though it was over.

He felt it, the tearing, violent pain of his parents leaving him. He and Mashi both were knocked to the ground. writhing in the dust. Every memory was brough to life between them, bitter, sweet, happy, sad, everything word or action rang out loudly. This wasn't how it was supposed to be! They were going to save them, and father would be injured but not to severely, but severe enough where he would need medical help, mother would come to him after the battle, scold him for being so brash.

But then he would just give her that look, which would make her give him her look, and they would stare into each others eyes for a few moments before they sighed and leaned into each other, whispering their undying love for each other. Then they would go home and curl up on their pillow next to the fireplace, without a care in the world, while he and the others cleaned up and took care of the village that was what was supposed to happen...not this.

He managed to get up, it was slow and painful but he did. He felt as if his heart was bleeding out and there was a gaping hole in his chest, that he was hollow and void, he didn't...he didn't want to even breathe, he wanted to crawl into a dark hole and stay there forever.

"Mo...mother...fa...father" he whispered. "They...their gone..." Minato and Mashi staggered forward both brother, working towards one goal. When they got closer, they noted the body of Imasen, gaping and lying open, blood everywhere. Stinging their nostrils, but they were not bothered, most of their bodies were relatively numb.

Next was Sasuke, he lay on his back, his head turned towards his sword, which was tinted dark and had a unsettling presence around it. Powerful, and uncontrolled. Then, there they lay. Peaceful, as if they laid their heads down for a noon nap, nestled close to each other, their noses barely touching, and their paws extended, reaching for each other. Even in death they needed to have the other by their side.

Another blow hit him hard in the gut. Seeing his parents like that. Made him bow over, he felt like he would get sick but he only sobbed, rib breaking hard sobs before finally he tossed his head back and howled, all his emotion, his pain, his frustration going into that howl, calling out to all others, telling him, that he was in pain and that he needed someone anyone, to come and save him.

Mashi was next to him and howled as well, the two brothers, who had always fought and bickered now closer than ever. Brought together in their darkest hour, their voices rose and carried far out, until at last the echo died off and six others joined in the song, their siblings, calling out to each other, the scattered pups coming together, to mourn in the passing of their parents.

The other wolves were silent, their heads bowed they to had felt the passing of their fellow demons all of Konoha's demons had. Closer demon friends of Naruto and Yume were struck harder and they sobbed where they were, it was a sad day indeed for Konoha. Especially for the Hokage, he stood motionless for quite some time next to Minato, who didn't even know it, not until Itachi spoke.

"We won." he stated. Minato looked to him both knew what he meant, why he said it so bleakly, the price was too much. Itachi walked forward stiffly. His shoulders drawn back and his face waxen. Slowly, ninja and demons gathered behind them waiting for him. He walked to the body of his father and then suddenly fell to his knees before him.

"Father...what happened? What have you done? Why did you do this? You didn't need to die, none of you did..did I fail you?Did I fail all of you? Have I failed this village?" Minato looked around, grief or no, this was not what a Hokage acted like after a battle, he need to be strong and proud, he needed to not cast doubt.

Minato looked to Mashi. Expecting his brother to take the lead and igniting the will of fire, he was like father in those kinds of things. But fathers loss must have dimmed even his bright flame, there was only one thing to do then. He must be like his mother, every raging fire needs faint wind to feed it, that was mothers gift, when father was down, mother was there to fan his flames back up, it was now Minato's duty to do so.

He stepped forward. "Itachi...sir..." he said. Itachi looked to him. His eyes grief-stricken. "They did this, not because you failed, but rather because they know you would succeed...in every great forest, there is a grove of old oaks, but after a long time, those oaks must fall so that new ones may grow in their place, your father and my father they knew that we all would take their places, and become the legends of tomorrow, it was their time to go, so that we small seeds of potential may blossom into mighty oaks."

Itachi glanced once more to his father before nodding. "I understand what you are saying Minato, I know...how hard it is for you...losing both parents, with your soul bond, for you to say that now...give me hope, you are right, that is what Naruto was trying to teach me all along, both he and my father, I would always lean on them, and keep asking for their guidance...they knew I couldn't grow to be my own leader with them in my path. So they guided me as best they could and now I and every other person in Konoha must now take their place."

Itachi stood, "I will make them proud, I will make them all proud, I will not let their memory be tarnished, nor let their teaching die..." Itachi turned to face them all. "Nor will I" Mashi said lifting his head. His eyes still tormented, but a fire burning in his eyes, his will of fire now engulfed him, filling him with energy and resolve.

"Nor I" said Gin, Vako, Kama and Doku followed shortly, soon every demon and Ninja was vowing to always protect the fallen legends of Konoha. Minato looked to the blade. "What of the blade?" Itachi looked to it. "From the looks of it, your father sealed the creature within it, the seal may break, but knowing your father it shouldn't..."

"What sealing did he use?" Minato said looking at the ground trying to mezmorize his fathers intricate and very skilful work. "Ancient and forbidden work, blood sealing, ones that require sacrifice..." Minato nodded. "Very well, we must destroy it, get rid of the evidence." Itachi looked at him quizzically. "You don't want to study it first?"

"My father, was the last of the Uzumaki, this is his creation, this work is from another time, a time of darkness and struggle, this is not us, we are from a new age, we will create our own jutsu's just as powerful and just as strong, but without sacrificing the ones we love." Itachi nodded. "I understand, you are right, this is our time now, the sun has set on the past, we will be the legends and stories of tomorrow, but we will always remember the legends of old, and someday we may placed side by side, as the hero's of Konoha."

Minato nodded "We shall." Minato looked to the rock face of Konoha, the setting sun made it illuminate like fire burning. Just briefly he though he saw the head of his father wink at him, but that had to have been a trick of his eye. Although he was still sad and it would be a long time before he could pass over the death of his parents he would always remember his father, and mother, and all the things they did for him, and although he would remember their deaths, he would think more to how they had lived.

He turned to his brother, Mashi. Mashi looked to him. With a small smirk he said. "Bet I can become a Legend faster than you" Minato shook his head. "I don't think so runt." Mashi glared at him but butted his head playfully into his brothers shoulder. "Guess dad was right." Mashi said suddenly, his voice sad. "What?" Minato asked.

"He always said the day we get along is the day he turns up dead..." Minato sighed. "Brother, sometimes you don't know when to shut-up." "Sorry" Mashi said, drawing his ears back. Minato butted him back. "Come, we must rebuild our home." And so the two wolves walked off together. The inhabitants of Konoha, had all their own paths, some lead to greatness, some did not, but each would live accordingly, knowing that as long the ancient will of fire stayed alive in their hearts, they would be forever engraved in the stars above.

* * *

Fuzzily, his eyes awoke, everything was bright for a few seconds, before dimming. Blinking rapidly he lifted his head. Before rolled sloping hills of grass and wildflowers. A calm breeze was ever constant. In the distance he could see the ocean, the faint scent of sea salt fresh on the air. Crisp and pure he breathed in the scented air.

Turning his head he looked about, the sky was a vibrant rich clear blue, almost seeming from a dream, never had he seen a sky like so. He heard a faint familiar chuckle. He turned his head to see Yume standing. He leaped up. Surprised at his reflexes, he felt so alive and vibrant, so full of energy. "Yume!" he exclaimed bounding over to her.

She joined him and together they embraced, for too long it seemed had they been apart. She stepped back, she looked as though she were glowing. She did, a faint light was emitted from her, creating a halo like effect on her entire being. Her eyes were so striking it was like seeing a new her. "This is heaven Naruto...we made it...you made it, we are together now...for eternity..."

He glanced at her. "An eternity of what though? she smiled softly. "Come" she said and turning gracefully strode away from him, heading towards the top of the hill, he followed her, confused. The land suddenly shifted, which made him jump. It seemed to wrinkle like a water did when a rock skipped across it's surface.

A small grove of cedar trees grew. Nestled in the middle of them, was a small pool. surrounded by cool flat stone. She stood at the edge. "We watch" Naruto walked over to the edge of the pool and looked down."Watch what?" He asked, the pool flickered and he gasped as he viewed Konoha, he saw his pups, helping rebuild and repair his village. He saw Itachi stand strong and tall as he gave a speech over the monument that was built for each of them, him,Yume and Sasuke and all others passed.

He saw what he had left behind, and he was happy, so unbelievably happy at what he helped create. "We watch the story go on." "I figured as much you new arrivals always hang over in this place, counting to see how many people show up at your funeral?" Naruto swiveled his head no way. He looked to see a tall blonde man with narrow blue eyes, he wore the long white overcoat with the red flames, he turned to see his father.

"Oh Minato give him a break, he just came here, I bet he doesn't even know what he has done for us all." He turned to see a shorter female, with long red air going down her back. She smiled warmly at him. "M...mom...d...dad?" They both grinned. "Don't worry after awhile you get used to seeing all the dead faces." "I..I thought we were in demon heaven...how are you here?"

Kushina grinned from ear to ear. "It's because of you silly, you see...well long story short, after that way you guys had, and the goddess Megumi was allowed back into the palace of souls, she was given one free...gift...basiclly...and she asked for a bridge." Naruto tilted his head. "Its more like a series of bridges, meaning we spirits can come here to the demon's world...it gives us something to do, heaven gets so boring after awhile, you demons are very entertaining."

Explained his father. "I...wow" he said at a loss for words. "Well what are you waiting for? Give me a hug ya goof!" Naruto put his ears back, "I...can't I am a wolf...I don't have the ability to stand...or...hug..." His mom laughed. "You don't know anything do you? In the demon world, demons have the ability to change into a human form, duh!"

"WHAT!?" He exclaimed. "It's true, and we human spirits have the ability to turn into anything as well." Like that the place where Minato had stood was now a tall white wolf, who looked much like Naruto, but had a broader head and longer muzzle. His eyes were also slanted more and a lighter blue. Then like that he was back to human.

"Oh! Me next! Me next!" Kushie exclaimed. Then suddenly a bright red fox appeared. It's eyes gleaming it ran around Minato a few times before bounding up unto his shoulder and licking him rapidly. "KUSHINA! What are yo-...ewww stop!" Minato exclaimed trying to pull his wife away. Holding her away, she turned back into a human suddenly, he was crippled from the sudden weight at almost dropped her. She landed gracefully on her feet while he ended up falling into her.

She chuckled and grinned mischievously. "I love doing that." Minato straitened out and coughed. Blushing deeply. "Awwww...he's so cute!" Kushina said pinching his cheek. "Well now I know which parent you take after." Said a familiar voice. It was Sasuke he walked into the grove, his two wives Sektsi and Mitsu on each arm.

"YOU!" Kushina said her eyes going dark she transformed into a giant bear. Roaring and gnashing its teeth. Sasuke blanched and his two wives his behind him. Kushina swiped at him screaming. "I should kill you again! You betrayed my son! You killed him! I hate you! You should be in hell not heaven! Stop dodging my attacks! You bastard!"

Naruto and Minato had to pull her away and calm her. Naruto closed his eyes and transformed. It felt weird, all his senses dulled, and all his limbs feeling so out of place. It was weird to have a face so flat, and teeth so dull. He looked up at his mom, unable to figure out how to stand up again. "Mom!..." he said getting used to the floppy short tongue in his mouth.

"Na...Naruto." "Don't Sasuke is my best friend, I have forgiven him and you should to, I hated him for a long while too, but hatred only begets more hatred, you have to let go, you can't hold a grudge, especially not in heaven..." Minato nodded. "What happened on earth stays on earth, remember, rule one of heaven."

"I fell asleep in that part of the seminar!" Kushina yelled at him. "What? That was the opening statement of the whole thing!" Minato exclaimed. "I was bored, I sleep when I am bored you know this." Naruto during his parents spat was looking at his hands. So strange and foreign to him. Fingernails, so flat and useless, how could you do anything with them?

But the thing he loved most was the use of the one appendage that made it possible to hold things without resorting to your mouth. Thumbs. "THUMBS I HAVE THUNBS OH THANK-KAMI"! He exclaimed startling everyone. His parents looked down at him. "Sorry...it's...been awhile...since I had...hands" "I bet" Minato said.

"Speaking of? Need a hand?" Naruto nodded grabbing, yes grabbing! His dad's hand. Minato hoisted him up. He was surprised out how tall he was. Taller than his dad. He was also taller than Sasuke, by two inches. Sasuke glared at him. "HEY! This is whoa-" He caught onto his dad. "You okay?" "I...forgot how to stand at the moment...these feet...are worthless...what creature walks on two appendages...I feel like I am constantly teetering..."

Kushina patted his back, "You will remember." He nodded. He turned to Yume, she stared at him. "Sweetie, you can do it, just close your eyes and think...'human' and it will work...trust me." She nodded and did so. In a flash of light, the most beautiful female he had ever seen was on the ground before him.

Her long light blonde hair falling in perfect tresses. Her face, oval and alabaster white, with the deepest greenest eyes, so pure and beautiful, it was as if she was carved out of marble like a god. He stared at her. "Y...Yume...?" She stood. "Naruto...am I?" She lifted delicate graceful hands to her face. Pristine nails clutched at her face and swan like neck.

"You..are a goddess" he said, staring at her. She was, so beautiful, his heart stopped...wait did his heart even beat? Was there a point to have a heart? He was already dead. A deep red blush rose to her cheeks. "Stop it...I am probably an ugly human." He swiftly remembered how to walk because he ran the three steps between them and scooped her up in his arms and pulled her close.

He stared into those eyes and one hand pushed hair from her perfect face. "You will always be the most beautiful wolf and human in all worlds put together." Then he planted a kiss on her lips. Kissing her for the first time, a real kiss, not a lick or playful nip a real kiss. He felt her hands dig into his hair, after a few moments he pulled away, he still saw fireworks behind his lids and he still felt as if he were flying.

"That...was amazing..." she said. He grinned. "That was just the beginning. He turned and looked to Sasuke. "Looking good dobe." Naruto smirked. "AIn't feeling to bad either." He pulled Yume close. "Ah, found you guys." Said another voice, it was Jiraiyah, Tsunade trailing behind him, Kakashi also appeared. "Jir-..Tsu-Ka!" He didn't know who to hug first, so he ran and gather all three on his arms. Hugging them close, he was crying he was so happy.

All three smiled as they were crushed by this blonde man. He was tall, but he was also built, not to buff but built. His face had matured and his air was longer so all in all he was one ver attractive looking man, but he probably didn't even know it. "How are you?" "Oh I missed you all so much! I am so sorry Jiraiyah! I wasn't there- and Tsunade! I can't believe what you did! It was so heroic! Kakashi- I...whaaaa"

He cried as he hugged them tighter. "I think we broke him...Minato...please?" Minato sighed. "I am always the one...always me." he said as he broke up the hug. Tsunade smiled. "Gaki, stop crying, we have an eternity to spend together." Naruto beamed, if he had a tail at the moment it would be wagging a mile a minute.

"Can we come out now?" Asked a familiar sweet voice that made him stop, he looked up. He heard another voice hush the first. "Quiet you will ruin the surprise!" Naruto stormed over to where they were hiding behind a log. "Darn it, I knew we should have hidden better. Baru said looking up at Naruto. Naruto hoisted all three of them up and claimed them.

He wept and kissed each of their heads. "Gin..Chickao...Baru...I am so sorry...so sorry..." "Sensei...what did we tell you before? We would always be with you." He nodded. "I know...I know...but having you in my heart and holding you in my hands are two different matters entirely." Gin looked up at him, she was crying as well.

"You accomplished your dream sensei, I am so proud of you, we knew you could do it." Naruto grinned. "I did, I did wasn't that amazing." "You were an awesome Hokage! The best!" Baru exclaimed then he looked to the three other earlier Hokage. "I mean you guys were good and awesome too...it's just...well...he was our sensei so we care more about him then you...plus...you were dead... ."

"Thank-you Baru...for that brutally honest statement." Kakashi said. "Your welcome." Baru said back. Naruto laughed then he exclaimed. "You guys!" He turned and dragged them over to Yume. "THIS IS YUME! Yume, these are the students I told you about I-" Yume put a finger on his lips, silencing him. "Shhhh be quiet my raging fire...we have all the time in the world, lets not rush things okay?"

He mellowed instantly. He leaned in and kissed her cheek. "Right, you were always the other half of my heart." She smiled at him. "I am glad you remember that" she said patting his head. "ITACHI!" Sasuke cried out. They all turned to see two brothers face off at each other. Both of them glared at each other. "HEY that's enough of it! Both of you stop it right now!" A voice cried out.

A female, with light white skin and dark long black hair and eyes came storming out of the woods. Itachi and Sasuke looked to her before looking at each other. "What happened on earth stays on earth." She said glaring at them. They both sighed and looked at each other. Before smiling slowly. Itachi spoke "Sasuke.." Sasuke smiled and stepped forward bring his brother into a deep hug.

They buried each others heads in the others shoulder and clapped each other on the back, slowly rocking side to side. They murmured unintelligible things to each other. They must have forgiven each other or something because bother were crying when they split but Itachi held Sasuke head and said. "Brothers forever okay?"

Sasuke nodded and then with a cracking voice he said. "Mother" then he brought her into a close hug, seeming to never want to let her go. Naruto nodded. He looked around to everything. "I guess in a way my story continues." Minato spoke, that it does, that it does, come on this is what we like to do with newcomers, lets all sit."

They all got situated and slowly one-by-one each spoke about their stories a lot of them inter weaved and a lot of them went on a long time. But in the afterlife it seemed you never got tired, and you never really got hungry or thirsty, if you wanted something you could just close your eyes and there it was. The sun never set, and the weather never changed much.

They just sat there in a perpetual storytelling session. Lots of memories going by. Finally after a long while Minato turned to his son. "So Naruto, do you think destiny did right by you? Or did the universe just keep spewing all its randomness in your direction?" After looking around to the many faces, he spoke.

"Huh, I never thought about destiny like that, I...I don't know, I stopped thinking about things like that a long time ago, a person isn't destined for greatness...they make it...I guess...Destiny sometimes you think you have it figured out, and other times you've got it completely wrong, and other times, it turns our right..but not in the way you quite expected...that evidently...was how my destiny ended up being."

After a pause he spoke.."I think it started out the day of the Ninja war...I was running through the trees when..." And so the hero's and legends of Konoha turned and listened to the story of Uzumaki Naruto.

* * *

_**Fin**_


End file.
